Insatiable
by snowandstarlight
Summary: The next generation of Guardians has been chosen, and they must master their powers to defend the universe against a new threat. This time, though, the threat is on Earth.
1. Prologue

I wanted to write something that I could share, as a break from stories I hope to publish someday. This is the fandom I chose, since I've always loved the story behind the Guardians. I apologize for any deviations from the comics or blending of the comics and cartoons. It's been a little while since I read them carefully. Enjoy!

* * *

"Humans again?"

The murmurs spread across the crowd. Such dissent was uncommon here—when eternity was one's reality, petty arguments could barely ripple the surface of one's peace. This subject, however, was one that could never be discussed lightly.

The Oracle looked out over the sea of pale green robes, trying not to focus on the worried faces. She was sure of her decision, even if her companions were not.

They quieted as she began to speak. This was a good sign, she thought. Although they were uncertain, her authority had not been compromised. "I must remind you that the last Guardians were among the most faithful to ever serve Candracar," she calmly. Her soft voice echoed through the chamber with the power of her conviction.

"And one of them was your granddaughter!"

The Oracle did not look to see who had spoken out. Their worry was understandable, for this was an important job to be assigned and the choice could shape the future of all the worlds. She would not allow herself to become biased against those who challenged her. "Their success speaks for itself," she assured the Council.

This statement was met without argument, and the Oracle smiled. The five girls had their difficulties, of course, but the strength of their friendship had always carried them through. They had protected their world and many others from countless threats. Now, though, they had grown old and moved on from their powers. The elements searched for new mistresses.

"Why now?"

The whispers began again—this was a question that many wished to have answered. The Oracle faltered slightly. To this question, she feared, her answer would not be satisfactory.

She bowed her head, clearing her mind until she saw nothing but the aurameres, locked in their endless dance. Within the past week, each had begun to reflect the face of its new Guardian, brief flashes of the girls living their ordinary human lives. Lives that would now be forever changed. The Heart floated to the front of her inner vision, moving closer and closer until she could see nothing but a pair of wide blue eyes.

"The elements know when there is a threat," she said. "Even before we are able to sense it."

Again she raised her head, casting her eyes over the assembled crowd. "It is time."

* * *

Slowly, he unfolded the paper.

It was more than a simple bit of parchment, actually, although it looked innocent enough. A cartographer had created a perfect map of the city and its outskirts, where they now stood. It had been imbued with the ability to detect the smallest trace of…

"There!" he said, as the first flash appeared. It was a vivid pink color, which made him frown slightly. That was something he had never seen before. Could it still be what they were looking for?

As they all watched, four other dots materialized. These were very faint, not as bright as the first, and together formed a rainbow of colors; orange, blue, silver, and green. All were scattered in this general area, although the pink was the closest. That, then, was what had drawn them to this spot.

There was silence for a moment. "Alright," he said finally. "Sarah, Gideon, see if you can find anything on those new dots." Although they were both older than he by a few years, they were willing to defer to his authority on this. It was a test, of sorts, his first opportunity to lead. "Amelia, go back to base and see if you can find another signal. I'm not sure this is the one we're looking for."

Amelia grinned—they hadn't been home in several weeks—and gave a mock salute before disappearing. Gideon prepared to go off towards the nearest small dot—the blue—but Sarah turned back.

"What will you do?"

Jonathan held up the parchment. "I'm going to find this flare."

Satisfied, she followed Gideon.

Alone again, Jonathan examined the paper. He took an experimental few steps to orient himself, watching as the small black speck that represented him moved further from the fuchsia light. Well that wouldn't do.

It wasn't far from where they had been standing. This was to be expected, as it was what had drawn them to that spot in the first place. Clearly, it was the strongest power in that area. The other dots were too small to have that strong a pull.

Jonathan reached the spot and looked down at the map. He frowned. He was sure this was right, but the light was now a full inch away from his black speck.

Moving in that direction, he now watched the pink rather than the black. It seemed to be growing further away even as he grew closer.

Was it… moving?

Curious, he broke into a run until he reached a spot further along what appeared to be the light's intended path. Sure enough, when he looked at the map, the light was almost upon him. He looked up quickly.

There was only one person in sight, aside from the car that had just driven past. This was lucky, as it made it impossible for anyone else to be responsible for the flare. If it hadn't been so, he wouldn't quite have believed it.

It was a girl, maybe two years younger than he was. She was running, not away from something but at a steady pace. This wasn't the first time, in the course of this investigation, that he had seen what women in this world wore, but it was still unsettling to see fabric clinging so tightly to the entire length of her legs, right down to the start of clunky rubber shoes. Her shirt, at least, was looser, with sleeves long enough that she could pull them down over her hands. She had bright blonde hair pulled back tightly from her face in a horsetail that swung side to side with every step she took. The exertion and the cold turned her cheeks red. Her face was nearly expressionless, her eyes staring straight ahead.

Suddenly she turned, as if she felt him watching. He was too startled to hide himself as he should have and he just found himself staring back at her. At this distant the color of her eyes was a mystery but he could feel them boring into him.

She looked away, quickened her pace, and disappeared around the next turn.

* * *

It took Jonathan the rest of the day to find her again, all the while wondering how this young girl could possibly be the source of the power they were all searching for. She didn't seem to have any idea why someone might be looking for her, which suggested that if she was the source, her actions were unconscious. Still, she had to be stopped, if she was indeed the one.

He wished she wasn't quite so young. It would make it easier to go through with what he had to do. Still, he steeled himself for the job ahead.

From his spot in the narrow gap between two buildings, he watched as she approached. She was heading for the restaurant just beyond the gap, but she would not reach it. As she passed, he dragged her backwards, into the shadows. Before she could scream, he touched her temple with the stone. She was instantly unconscious.

Without her movements to contend with, it was disarmingly simple to pull her through the portal. They emerged at the edge of a forest, and he propped her up against a fallen log to tie her hands and feet. After a moment of indecision, he covered her eyes with a black cloth. It wouldn't do for her to see him just yet.

Now to wait for her to wake up. The stone would only keep her sleeping for a few minutes more, but those minutes were long. He wanted to be validated, to push away the guilt of watching this girl, younger than himself, slump defenseless against her bonds.

He looked away, forcing himself to think of something else. It was possible, of course, that she wasn't the source of the vacuums. There was something different about her magical signature. It was oddly familiar, but he was sure he had never felt anything like it nor seen anything like it registered on his map.

Jonathan heard the rustle of restless movements and turned to see her struggling against the rope. He pushed away another wave of guilt—she must be terrified, in this unfamiliar place, unable to see or move—and tried to make a reassuring noise.

"Who's there?" she demanded, still thrashing. "Where am I? What do you want?"

Although she couldn't see him, he sat up straighter, hoping it leant authority to his tone. "The Society is investigating the source of a magic vacuum, believed to originate in your world. Your power was the strongest signal we could find in the area. We have reason to believe the two are connected."

There was silence for a moment, and he watched her carefully, hoping to read her sincerity from her expression.

She looked bewildered. "A magic vacuum? Okay, this is either the weirdest dream I've ever had or I've been kidnapped by an escaped mental patient."

It was possible she was lying, he knew. But somehow he could feel that her confusion was entirely real. Perhaps she didn't know what she was doing.

He dug through his bag until he found what he was searching for, a crystal on a thin black cord. Its power crackled, shocking the tips of his fingers, but he grabbed it anyway.

Moving closer to his captive, he dangled the object in front of her. "Take this."

Behind the black cloth, she seemed to roll her eyes. "How exactly? I can't see or move my hands."

He cursed under his breath at his own incompetence and instead reached for one tied-up hand. He uncurled the fingers—her hands were freezing cold, maybe from the temperature in her world although it was much warmer here—and placed the crystal there.

Nothing happened. With a sigh, he took the crystal back again—getting another shock for his troubles, and placed it back in his bag. She hadn't drained the power from the crystal, so it seemed unlikely that she could be unconsciously draining huge amounts of power from other worlds.

She was something, that was for certain. But she was not the enemy he searched for, and he could not keep her here to find out what power she did have.

"Was that supposed to do something?" she asked him, unaware of his thoughts. "Because aside from feeling like sticking my finger in a socket, it didn't really."

How in the world was she so calm about this? Maybe she really did think this was all a dream. Well, that would make things easier.

With the blindfold on, she couldn't see him approach. He pressed the stone against her temple once again, then picked her up to carry her back through the portal. They reappeared in the alleyway, and he propped her up against one wall before disappearing into the shadows.

Jonathan watched as she woke up, blinking rapidly and checking her pockets and bag for any missing items. Apparently satisfied that nothing had been stolen, she opened the door to the restaurant and slipped inside.

He would have to talk to the others, he thought as he made his way back towards the portal closer to base. Unless Amelia had found another signal, this was their best lead. This girl wasn't responsible for what was going on but he was almost positive that she was somehow connected.


	2. Chapter One: Isobel

Isobel was preoccupied.

This, by itself, was not unusual. In fact, it was a state shared by most of her classmates, or the female ones at the very least. It was the day of their last Winter Formal and no one had much of a mind for schoolwork that day.

However, the Winter Formal wasn't her solitary distraction. After all, the school day was now over and thoughts of the dance could hardly interrupt preparations for said event. Isobel was preoccupied not by her dress or the boys she might dance with but by a dream.

It couldn't have been that remarkable, she told herself, considering she barely remembered it. There were only flashes—someone grabbing her around the waist, something cool resting in the palm of her hand, a voice without a face to go with it—but it stuck in her head relentlessly, refusing to let her think of anything else.

"Is!"

Startled, she looked up from the bright foil wrapper that she was tearing to shreds. As usual, Cara's mom had set up a spread of snacks like this was a cocktail party instead of a few girls putting make-up on together. Fruit, vegetables with dip, pretzels and hummus. Isobel was a particular fan of the holiday candy.

Marlie was looking at her oddly. "Are you even paying attention?"

She shrugged. "I was just thinking about this dream I had. I can't remember most of it but I'm trying to."

Dreams were not nearly as interesting a topic of conversation as the dance, so Marlie didn't press her. "We want to know if there's anyone _you _want to dance with," she said.

Out of all of them, Isobel was the least likely to develop a crush. She always reasoned that she preferred to have stronger feelings for a few, worthy people than fleeting feelings for every male she came across, but her friends seemed to think there was always someone on her mind. "Not particularly."

Marlie was pretty much the opposite. If pressed, she could find herself a dozen new boys within a week. At the moment, though, she had a boyfriend and instead turned her attentions on getting boys for her friends. "Is Aaron still trying to get you back?"

Isobel shrugged again, reaching for another chocolate. Even with her closest friends, she never liked talking about herself. "It's been, like, two months," she pointed out. "I know I was the one who broke up with him, but I think he's over it."

The other girl frowned. Apparently deciding that Isobel was a lost cause at the moment, she got up and walked to the other end of the counter. "Anna," she began. "Have you—"

She was interrupted by the arrival of Cara's mother through the garage door. "Girls!" she said as she hung up her coat. "If you keep sitting here eating you won't fit into your dresses!" She grinned as she said this. Isobel was positive that the woman's eyes paused on her. She dropped the chocolate she had just unwrapped and crumpled her napkin on top of it.

As the girls moved to throw away their garbage, Mrs. Miller shooed them upstairs. "I'll take care of it. You girls go get ready."

* * *

Cara's room was not the most convenient place for five girls to get ready. Marlie immediately claimed the vanity, leaving only the mirror above the dresser for the other four. Isobel took the spot on the end, closest to the door, and pulled out her makeup bag.

"Hey Cara, can I borrow your laptop?" Marlie asked without turning around. She was sponging something across her forehead.

Cara was digging through her closet and her voice was muffled. "Yeah sure, what do you need it for?"

Marlie put down her sponge and leaned over to grab the computer off of her friend's desk. "There's this video for a really great way to do eyeliner."

For a minute or two the room was largely silent, each of the girls concentration on her preparations.

"Marlie! What did you do?"

Isobel put down the eyelash curler she had just picked up and turned around. The laptop screen was completely black. Marlie was staring at it blankly and Cara had come to look over her shoulder.

Marlie opened her mouth a few times before words came out. "I swear, I didn't do anything! I just pressed play and then this happened!"

Anna and Grace had turned around also. Grace gave Isobel a look, which she returned with a raised eyebrow. They both knew very well that Marlie could pretty much get away with murder where Cara was concerned. If either of them had done the same, the scene would have been a whole lot less calm.

Before Cara could berate Marlie further—if in fact, that was what she intended to do—the screen flashed so brightly white that for a second Isobel couldn't see at all.

When her vision cleared, she wasn't in Cara's room anymore.

The five girls were arranged in a circle, facing each other. Four pairs of wide eyes met hers and she imagined the fear she saw there was mirrored in her own. Around them was nothing but white. They were standing on something—or at least, something felt solid beneath her feet—but there was no visible floor.

Before any of them could react, the voice began to speak. It was a woman's voice, in a tone that somehow conveyed great age and kindness. This helped only marginally to lessen the impact of her words.

"The time comes once again that Candracar, and the worlds over which it reigns, has need for its Guardians. Danger arises, danger about which we know very little."

As she spoke, an image formed in the center of the circle, a glowing temple-like structure. No, not an image. It seemed three dimensional, although Isobel didn't dare reach out her hand to confirm this.

This image faded into a more familiar picture of the Earth. In this representation, there was a shimmering veil over the swirls of blue and green. It sparked with multicolored light.

"There is magic where there should be none. It has been pulled from other worlds to this one, upsetting the delicate balance. The barriers are weakening."

More globes appeared, inching closer to the Earth.

"If they collapse, the results would be catastrophic."

The globes were moving faster now. Isobel was fairly sure these were just representations but she couldn't bear to see the fiery explosion that would happen if they did collide. Without thinking, she thrust out her hand. "Stop!"

Her eyes widened as the globes froze, caught in a net of pink light. Slowly Isobel looked down at her palm to see sparks of the same color dancing between her fingers. She looked back up at her friends to find them all staring at her.

"Yes," the voice said. "You will stop this and save all the worlds. You will be our Guardians."

The globes and the pink light vanished, replaced by a translucent blue bubble. There was a shape inside, etched in darker blue—a little 'c'.

"Water."

The bubble floated towards Cara, hanging in the air at her eye level. Slowly, she raised her arm, palm up. The bubble sank into her hand and for a second she seemed to glow with blue light.

"Fire."

This bubble was orange, and the shape inside was a triangle. It disappeared into Grace's palm.

"Earth." A green bubble with a circle inside it traveled to Marlie. "Air." Anna's bubble was silver with a swirl inside.

"The elements will obey you," the voice said. "You must learn to master your powers. Only then will you be able to stop this evil."

Isobel was very much accustomed to this sinking feeling. It was the same one she got when she heard about a party she wasn't invited to or her friends whispered secrets she wasn't allowed to hear. She didn't belong here. Somehow she had been dragged into this crazy dream, but it was her friends who were something out of one of her fantasy novels. She was just ordinary, as usual.

Everyone was staring at her again, as if waiting to see how she would react to this. She fought to keep her face blank, to hide her disappointment.

Isobel was momentarily distracted from this effort by the new image that was materializing in the center of the circle. It was a small crystal orb, nestled in a silver setting.

"The Heart of Candracar is the key to your powers," the voice said. "Without it, you cannot succeed, for everything must have a heart. The heart must keep you together during the most difficult times and provide the strength to drive you forward as one."

The crystal flared with pink light and floated over to Isobel. Tentatively, she reached out to touch it. This was no image—the orb was entirely real. It hung from her fingers on a thin cord, which looped through the silver setting.

Isobel wondered briefly if she had to wear it as a necklace. It was kind of bulky.

As if to answer her, the crystal disappeared. The voice continued. "The Heart will remain with you always. Hold out your hands."

Obediently, she cupped her palms in front of her. The crystal reappeared with a pulse of warmth. Isobel instinctively closed her hands around it and it vanished once again. Now, though, she could feel it inside her, like a second heartbeat hidden beneath the first.

"We wish you well, girls," the voice said. "And we thank you."

* * *

Isobel opened her eyes. She was once again in Cara's room, sitting on the floor with her back against the dresser. Around her, her friends were waking up as well. Marlie lifted her head from the vanity, Anna stretched her arms above her head and yawned.

"So…" Isobel said. "That was interesting."

Cara folded her arms across her chest. "I think someone drugged us."

Marlie gave her a look. "Drugs? That's your explanation?"

The other girl was undeterred. "Extreme stress, then."

Using the dresser for support, Isobel pulled herself to her feet. She grinned, which caused everyone else in the room to look at her like she was insane. "We're magical!" she said, very nearly jumping up and down. "How freaking cool is that?"

Grace smiled slightly. Isobel knew the two of them had a similar taste in books, although Grace had never expressed interest in having those books become her reality.

True to form, Cara remained stubborn. "We are not _magical_. If anything, we're having shared delusions." Isobel raised an eyebrow. "I'm the one taking Psych! It's a real thing!"

Well this was going to be no fun if Cara tried to ruin it. She always was the downer in the group.

"So then how do you explain this?" Isobel hoped that she was right, because otherwise this was going to be embarrassing. She cupped her palms, holding them up so that all her friends could see.

She didn't have to worry. Almost immediately she felt that pulse of warmth traveling from her heart, down her arms, and to her hands. The crystal appeared, reassuringly solid. Isobel picked it up by the cord, letting it hang from her fingers.

Cara didn't have a response for this. She glowered and turned back to her closet, determinedly flipping through her collection of dresses as if she didn't already know exactly what she was going to wear.

"How does it work?" Grace asked her.

That was a good question. Isobel held it up right in front of her face. "No idea," she admitted. "The lady said it's the key to our magic, right?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Isobel continued to talk, more to herself than to anyone else. "It keeps us all together. Strength, unity." Something occurred to her, whether from some innate understanding of her role or from years of reading she wasn't sure. "Unite," she said, quietly but firmly.

The crystal flared to life, exploding with light. It floated above her head, splitting into five shimmering globes. The one that flew towards her was fuchsia. It stretched into a ribbon that wrapped itself around her, lifting her off the ground.

Isobel felt her body curl forward involuntarily. She hugged her knees to her chest, blind to everything but the pink light. When she accepted the Heart, she felt its power but that was only a spark. Now it was a flood, rushing through her veins until she felt like she could hardly contain it. The force of it threw her backwards, knocking her to her feet once again. As she felt the ground beneath her, the light faded to reveal Cara's room and the other girls.

For a moment, no one had words. They all stared at each other, glancing around the room as if to verify that everyone was seeing the same thing.

Isobel's lips twitched into a wry smile. "Of course! What are magical powers without a transformation scene?"

"You are such a nerd," Marlie told her, rolling her eyes. She looked down at herself. "I feel like one of my sister's cartoons."

Isobel turned around. The image in the mirror was still her, for the most part. Her hair was longer and more neatly straightened, her bangs falling perfectly like they had just been dried, but it was still golden blonde. Her height hadn't changed, or the shape and color of her features, but at the same time…

"We look like we've been photo-shopped," Anna said.

That was probably the best way to describe it. All the girls had kept their overall coloring, their hair texture and style, their body type. It had just been perfected until they could easily be part of a spread in a fashion magazine—albeit, a weird, fantasy based one.

The outfits, if possible, were even more shocking. Isobel's top was purple, with long sleeves that flared out around her wrists. It was cropped to show the entirety of her stomach, which was fortunately much flatter in this incarnation than she remembered it being five minutes ago. A small strip of fabric curled in towards her collarbone and another made a wide arc around her belly button. Her skirt was teal. It was very short, but a pair of tights, striped green and blue covered the rest of her legs. The knee-high boots were round-toed with a slight chunky heel, purple to match her top.

It wasn't exactly what she would choose, knowing the whole ensemble was intended for running and fighting. Was there a jacket, in case evil showed up somewhere cold?

Isobel stretched experimentally, extending her arms above her head and twisting from side to side. Despite its flimsy appearance, the outfit did not move at all. Well, at least she didn't have to fear a wardrobe malfunction.

In the mirror she could see Grace twisting to look over her own shoulder. "Are these… wings?" she asked hesitantly.

How could she have missed that? Isobel's eyes flicked back to her own reflection. Sure enough, there were feathery stalks arching from her shoulder blades. They looked flowery, like iridescent petals on a black stem. She reached a hand over her shoulder to touch one. It felt satiny smooth under her fingers. "No way," she whispered. She had always wanted to fly!

A loud knock on the door startled the girls. "Pictures are starting in an hour!" Cara's mom said through the wood. "Make sure you're all ready!"

Isobel reached out a hand, curling her fingers. The globes of light followed the motion, leaving each of the girls less elaborately than they had come. In a brief flash, they were themselves again, and the blonde girl once again held an empty crystal. She closed her palm and it vanished.

How could they go about normal life after this?

* * *

Isobel would never know how she managed to get ready for that dance. Fortunately, Marlie had volunteered to do her makeup, and her hair was more or less done from that morning. Two hours later, she found herself at the banquet hall, talking to Grace a few feet away from the punch table.

"Wasn't punch just a thing in old prom movies?" she was saying. "I mean, people don't really drink thinks out of giant open bowls anymore. Not when we're supposed to be paranoid that the mouth of a plastic _cup_ is big enough to drug easily."

Grace was holding a water bottle, ripping at the paper label rather than drinking it. "It's being guarded by nuns," she pointed out. "I don't think anyone is getting drugged here."

This was a good point, and Isobel shrugged rather than agree or argue further. Instead she cast her eyes about the room, not for the first time. The student council really had done a great job with this dance. Tiny lights twinkled everywhere, and the walls were hung with shimmering garland. A giant Christmas tree filled one corner, and a constant stream of couples waited to take pictures with it. Isobel was glad that this dance, unlike prom, didn't require a date. She wasn't in the mood to entertain someone else all night, especially after the events of the afternoon.

_You were supposed to stop thinking about that_, she reminded herself. As a distraction, she tried to track down all the others. There was Marlie, dancing with her boyfriend Tom. Anna and Cara were in a group of girls nearby, although Cara was eyeing one of Tom's good friends. Isobel was fairly certain they had been talking, or something like that, but then again she was kind of out of the loop when it came to Cara's life.

Aaron was leaving the dance floor, walking towards his table. He gave her a genuinely friendly smile but didn't come over. Isobel returned the smile, relieved that the last of their awkwardness seemed to be gone. It hadn't ended badly, after all. Of course they had been uncomfortable with each other for a little while, but as she had hoped, the whole thing hadn't ruined their chances for casual friendship.

The music shifted to a slower song, and there was an abrupt change on the dance floor. Everyone stopped and couples turning to wrap their arms around each other and sway.

Grace prodded her with a sharp elbow. "I think someone's coming to ask you to dance," she whispered.

Isobel looked away from the floor, startled. Had she been wrong about Aaron? "But he just went—"

The other girl hadn't finished. "Who is that kid anyway? I don't think I've ever seen him before."

Not Aaron then. "He better not be a freshman." Isobel followed Grace's eyes until she found this mystery guy. When her eyes met his, he moved towards her more quickly, his face set in grim determination.

She used the opportunity to study him. He didn't look like a freshman. He was over six feet, always a blessing for a girl of her height. Big too, not like a football player but definitely fit. He was dressed simply in a white shirt and black pants—apparently his tie had been misplaced. Maybe a freshman girl had taken it. They loved to run around these dances gathering as many ties as they could, like some sort of trophy. Isobel smirked at the thought. He looked a bit too serious for that.

When he reached her, he smiled just slightly. It was not insincere, exactly, but he looked far from relaxed and content. "Would you like to dance?" he asked her.

Next to her, Grace gave her a subtle wink. At least, she hoped it was subtle. Ah, well, he was pretty cute. "Sure," she said.

He offered his arm, like something out of a regency film. Well that was… cute? Strange? Both? Isobel placed her fingers lightly on his elbow and let him lead her towards the dance floor. When they reached it, they turned to face each other.

Now he blushed faintly pink, the color barely visible in the dim lighting. "I'm afraid I don't know this dance," he admitted.

And he hadn't thought of that before he asked her? Isobel raised an eyebrow. "There isn't really much to it," she pointed out. "Just put your hands at my waist."

He did so, tentatively. Isobel put her arms on his shoulders, crossing her wrists behind his neck.

"And just sway," she added, as he just stood there. She moved a little bit from side to side and he followed her lead.

These dances were always awkward, especially with strangers. They were standing so close and yet had nothing to say to each other. Isobel looked at her partner long enough to determine that his eyes were even darker than his hair, but glanced away quickly under his intense stare. Why was he looking at her like that?

"My name is Jonathan," he offered, after almost a minute of uncomfortable silence.

Oh, she had never introduced herself. "Isobel," she said. And as this was much better than awkwardly avoiding his eyes, she added, "Are you new here?"

Jonathan hesitated for a moment. "Yes," he said finally. "I've just arrived this week."

Could people just show up less than a week before Christmas break? It didn't really make sense, but then again, what did make sense at this school?

He didn't seem to have anything else to say, but he kept looking at her. Apparently he wasn't as bothered by the constant eye contact as she was. But, she realized, it wasn't exactly an admiring gaze. He seemed almost puzzled by her, like he was searching for answers written across her face.

Well he could just ask. "So, are you a senior then?"

Something like confusion flashed across his face, but it cleared quickly to leave him stoic once again. "Yes."

Isobel knew her strengths, and making conversation was not one of them. Luckily, the song came to an end at that point, replaced by a much faster one. Mr. Uptight probably wouldn't want to stick around for this kind of dance.

Before he could say anything, she stepped back. His arms fell back to his sides. "It was nice meeting you," she said politely, and she went off to join her friends at their table.

As she slid into her seat, Marlie turned to her. "So," she said, in a tone that suggested she wouldn't drop this easily. "Who was _that_?"

Isobel looked back towards the dance floor. Jonathan had disappeared into the crowd. "I don't really know."


	3. Chapter Two: Cara

At about seven, Cara gave up and got out of bed.

She had fallen asleep easily enough after the formal, with all the dancing and the pounding music pushing every other thought away. But in her sleep she couldn't avoid the earlier events of the previous day. The constant bombardment of images—the crystal burning with hot pink light, the distorted self that she saw in the mirror after they had all _changed_, the globes flying closer and closer. This time Isobel didn't stop them. As they met in a fiery explosion, her eyes flew open. Every time.

Cara pulled on a pair of sweatpants and went downstairs. Everyone in her family was still asleep—her mom only woke up this early when she had to get her brother ready for school. On Saturday, no one would be up until nearly ten, and she had the kitchen to herself.

She made herself a cup of coffee—she had gotten attached to it the previous year, when extra AP class homework kept her up late every night—and sat down at the table. The tile floor was freezing against her bare feet, but the mug warmed her hands. Outside the sliding glass door, frost covered the grass and the surface of the deck. It hadn't snowed this year yet, not heavily, and they were all waiting for that first morning where they would wake up to a heavy white blanket on the lawn.

Her coffee was still too hot, but she took a sip anyway, wincing as it burnt her tongue. But it warmed her inside like a sweatshirt couldn't, so maybe it was worth it.

Maybe it would even drive away the chill that ran down her spine when she saw the Earth dying, time after time after time. And she had to fight that! Whatever _that_ was. The delusion had not exactly been clear on what they were supposed to do. Apparently all they had to go on was that Isobel could turn them all into demented fairy things.

Great.

Even though Cara wasn't entirely convinced that the whole thing was real, it stung a little bit to know that she would have to answer to _Isobel _now. What was it about that girl anyway? She was not exactly the strong leader type. Isobel was more likely to be the one breaking into helpless giggles while someone else made a serious speech.

Then again, this was the girl who never stayed up studying past eleven and still managed to get better grades than anyone. Who knew what else her silliness was hiding?

Annoyed now, Cara put down her coffee a little harder than she should. The mug clinked against the wood, and some of the dark brown liquid spilled over the rim to pool on the table. Good daughter that she was, she would normally clean it up but…

_Power over water_. The thought floated across her mind unbidden. It was almost unconscious when her hand drifted up to hover over the tiny puddle. She made a gentle grasping motion and drew her hand upwards.

Cara gaped as all of the coffee in her mug followed her hand. It hung there in the air, a glob of mahogany.

"Okay, not what I was going for," she muttered. Very slowly, she lowered her hand to direct the coffee back into the mug.

Outside, a car door slammed. With Cara's concentration broken, the coffee fell straight to the table, splattering the wood and her favorite pajamas.

Just barely restraining her curses (she tried hard not to actually use the words out loud—her parents had always told her it made people sound unintelligent—but in her head she couldn't stop herself), Cara quickly wiped up the coffee and put her mug in the sink. She went upstairs to change, glowering at the brown stains on her white shirt.

Weren't magical powers supposed to be helpful in some way? So far they had only caused problems.

Cara opened the door to her room. Her phone, on the dresser, was lit up from a recent message.

Dec 15, 2012 7:26 AM

No heat in the gym. Practice is canceled

Shirt forgotten, Cara picked up her phone. That was what they all needed, she decided. Practice.

* * *

A few hours later, Isobel's car swung into a large parking lot, empty except for two other cars. She had offered to pick up Cara and Grace, as they were both on her way to the old ski mountain.

Anna and Marlie were in Anna's car, both clutching coffee cups. When Isobel parked next to Marlie's empty car, Anna turned off the car and they both got out.

"It's freezing," Marlie complained. "Do we have to do this outside?"

Isobel was looking up at the cloudless blue sky, hands in her pockets. "You're the one who needs to be outside," she pointed out. "Unless you want to play with some poinsettias or your Christmas tree."

Cara had puzzled for a good half hour over where they could possibly practice. It had to be outside, both for the reason Isobel had pointed out and because the outdoors were probably harder to destroy. It also had to be completely deserted, and hidden from anyone who might be watching. Finally, she thought of the mini ski mountain in their town. It was closed this week, for some reason or another, and the top of it was high enough to be invisible from any other high points in the surrounding area.

Well, she really hoped it was.

She had a brief image of a news story on a mysterious cult dressed in skimpy purple and teal outfits, dancing around on top of a mountain. That could _never_ happen.

Isobel practically skipped over to the bottom of the mountain. "First things first," she said. "Let's fly to the top!"

Cara gave her what she imagined was a withering look. "First things first, maybe we should _transform_?"

The other girl didn't seem particularly bothered by this. "Well, yeah, of course."

"Let's move over there," Anna suggested, gesturing towards the bottom of the ski lift. They would be hidden from the parking lot by the little shed and a good covering of trees. "I feel like someone could be watching us right here."

When they reached the spot, Isobel extended her hand, palm up. The crystal appeared, bathing them all in hot pink light. In the glow, Isobel's face changed. It was older, solemn, and determined.

Cara just hoped it had those affects on more than her appearance.

Just like the day before, Cara found herself lifted off the ground by a bright blue ribbon of light. It became a heavy mist, enveloping her completely. She closed her eyes and stretched one arm up, curling the other behind her head. The magic washed over her like a wave, leaving her momentarily breathless and then knocking her back to her feet as the light faded.

When she looked in the mirror after the first transformation, Cara's first thought was that the outfit would kind of make a good dance costume. Without the wings of course. Hers was a high necked three quarter sleeved teal top that showed her stomach and had a cutout on each shoulder. The skirt was purple, short with an asymmetrical hem. Like the other girls she had blue and green striped tights and her purple shoes were sneakers.

She wouldn't go out in public in it, even if she could, but she had to admit that they all looked pretty good like this. Of course, the "photo-shopping" that Anna pointed out helped.

Isobel was the first to take off, bending her knees and launching herself skyward. Fortunately, some part of the whole flight thing seemed to be instinctual, because her wings fluttered to catch her in the air and keep her there. She grinned widely. "Wow, this would make tumbling so much easier!" She flipped herself backwards, but over rotated so she spun a few extra times. When she finally forced herself upright again, she looked a little dizzy. This, of course, didn't stop her. "Come on, guys!" she shouted back to them as she sped up the hill, following the path of the ski lift.

"Well, I'm air, right?" Anna said. She was still watching Isobel weave among the cables. "So I should be good at this."

At amusement parks, Anna was the one who refused to go near a roller coaster or any of the tower rides that made your stomach drop. Cara wondered who was in charge of assigning these powers. "You'll be a natural," Cara told her.

Anna took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her wings fluttered a few times and then she pushed off the ground. She floated there for a few seconds before opening her eyes. When she saw the gap between her feet and the snow, she smiled. "You know, this isn't that bad." She followed Isobel up the hill, flying a much straighter course. Whether this was because she had more control or because Isobel just liked nearly crashing into things was anyone's guess.

_Alright,_ Cara told herself. _I'm an athlete. It's like jumps, but you stay up longer._ She bent her knees like she was about to leap into a split and jumped hard.

Her back tensed with the use of brand new muscles. She felt surprisingly light—maybe the transformation did that too, so that they could actually hold their weight in the air. Or maybe it was just magic.

As she made her way up the hill, Cara found flying to be different than she imagined. She thought it would be like jogging, a constant, steady burn. But it was more like dancing. The exhilaration pushed away all aches, although she was sure it would hurt later on. Freezing wind battered her face and shoulders, stinging slightly, but it couldn't touch the heat of her power. Well, maybe that was why these outfits could be so small.

She reached the top of the hill as Anna laughed at Isobel, who had evidently crash-landed. The blonde girl jumped to her feet, brushing snow off her butt. She craned her neck to look over her shoulder. "Hey, I think these skirts are waterproof!"

Cara landed neatly next to Anna. "That would be useful."

"Cara!"

She turned around to see Marlie, looking very unsteady in the air. Right behind her was Grace, who didn't look much better. Marlie flew straight at her, clearly going for a crash landing like Isobel. Cara stretched up to grab her arm and steady her, guiding her to her feet.

"Thanks," Marlie said with a grin.

Grace didn't have as much luck. She bowled straight into Isobel, who was looking the other direction. They fell to the ground in a heap, both laughing uncontrollably.

Did no one care that they were supposed to be fighting something? It didn't sound like it was going to be easy.

"So about that practicing…" she said, looking pointedly at their _esteemed _leader.

Isobel straightened up, brushing more snow off her skirt. "Right. Why don't you go first?"

She hadn't exactly thought about what she wanted to do, but then, it would be nice to show everyone that she did think. Cara concentrated hard on the snow beneath their feet. She raised her arms in a sweeping motion and the powder followed, hanging in a white sheet in front of her.

No, that wouldn't do. Could she change it? She twisted her hands and the flat pane started to condense. Soon it was a giant snowball, still floating in the air.

"You can make a snowman," Isobel suggested.

Ignoring her, Cara thought about how to make the snow liquid. She squeezed her hands into fists and pulled, as if to drag the water out of it. Instead the globe froze solid. It dropped to the ground, shattering into a thousand crystal shards.

Cara winced as one of the pieces hit her shin. Somehow it didn't cut her, but she thought it might leave a bruise. She rubbed the spot. "Sorry guys."

Isobel nodded once, like she was the judge of some sort of power competition, and then turned to her right. "Okay, your turn Grace!"

Grace eyed the trees, looking apprehensive. "I don't actually want to light anything on fire." She frowned slightly, and then cupped her hands and closed her eyes. As she breathed out, a flame began to build above her palms. It grew larger with every slow breath, casting odd shadows across her face. When she opened her eyes a few seconds later, it was as large as a softball. "I did it!"

A cold gust of wind blew across the top of the mountain, kicking up the powder into their faces and rustling the tops of the trees. Cara was happy that their magic seemed to work to keep them decently warm, or they would have had to find someplace indoors to practice until spring. The wind also extinguished Grace's fire in a puff of smoke.

She just shrugged. "Well, I didn't know what to do with it anyway," she said.

"My turn!" This was Marlie, who immediately held her hand out, palm facing the ground. Green sparks danced around her fingers and the snow parted for the tiny beginnings of a plant, just a spot of emerald against the white. Marlie grinned but didn't stop there. The ground rumbled as the plant grew into a good-sized sapling. It knocked the girl over backwards as it erupted from the ground. She didn't seem to care much, busy beaming up at her creation.

The other girls gaped at her. Somehow there was a difference between throwing around some water that already existed and briefly conjuring a little fire, and leaving so large of a permanent mark.

Anna reached out to touch the trunk. "Do you think anyone will notice that there's a new random tree here?" No one had an answer for that, so she stepped away from the plant. Aside from Isobel, she was the only one who hadn't given her powers a try yet. She pointed one finger towards the ground and drew quick circles in the air, pulling upwards as she went. A small tornado formed to follow her movement, growing larger as she continued. It hovered near her and then moved towards the center of the circle, picking up ice shards from the shattered snowball. The jagged pieces flew in every direction. Panicked, Cara threw up her hands. "Stop!"

The ice froze, hovering in the air. Marlie had just ducked under one piece, and another was inches from Isobel's nose. Cara dropped her hands, letting it fall to the ground.

"Thanks, Cara."

Cara turned to the blonde girl. "So, Isobel, what's your power? Since you don't have one of the elements." It was something she had been wondering about, and she had tried to remember exactly what the voice had said. Clearly, they needed her to transform and use their powers. Well, they could use them a little bit without the transformation but she felt much stronger just now than this morning. But aside from that, what could she do?

She didn't think she imagined the fact that Isobel's face fell a little bit. This was quickly replaced with a smile. "I don't know," she said cheerfully. "I guess I'll find out at some point. Right now I just want to fly!" She jumped into the air again, this time managing to restrict herself to one flip.

The other girls quickly joined her in the air. Anna floated gracefully, having no trouble compensating for the occasional gust of wind. Grace still looked unsteady when she moved, but Marlie looked a little more confident. Cara flew up to the roof of the building that housed the lift and pushed the snow off with her magic. It landed on the ground with a satisfying thump.

When she turned back around, Isobel was sneaking up behind Marlie with an armful of snow. She jumped it on the other girl, giggling, and then yelped as the new tree came alive and swatted her out of the air.

Cara sighed. And _this _was the group that was supposed to save the world.

* * *

I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. If you have any comments, questions, or critiques, I'd love to hear them. Happy New Year, everyone!


	4. Chapter Three: Grace

Thank you so much for your reviews! And again, if you have any thoughts or critiques, I'd love to hear from my readers.

I'll be going back to school soon so there might be a little bit more time between updates, but I promise I'm still working hard on this story.

* * *

Not for the first time, Grace wondered what she was doing there.

Practice earlier that day had dissolved into lunch, where Marlie mentioned a party going on that night. It was thrown by one of the football players, so she and Isobel were planning on going, but she wanted everyone to come. But Cara had her dad's birthday dinner and Anna had to babysit so it was only Grace who had gotten dragged into the whole thing and was now standing with a group of slightly intoxicated cheerleaders trying to remember why she had decided to come.

Grace loved her friends, to be sure, but she had never been a big fan of this type of party. She didn't drink, so there was one source of entertainment that was lost on her (although at times, when she was in a certain mood, she was easily diverted by the people who _were _drinking). After a few of the football parties freshman year, which she followed Isobel and Marlie to after games, she had gotten good at avoiding them.

Besides, she liked _interesting _people. People with stories and odd worldviews, people with different circumstances to fight through. Outside of her closest friends from school, she had started to spend a lot of time with the people she worked with. Next to those people, who didn't necessarily go to college or plan to, who had different goals in life than getting asked to prom and going to a school with a pretty name that would look good on their parents' cars, the football team and their guests didn't really intrigue her.

At the moment they were in the kitchen so that Marlie and Steph, another senior cheerleader, could refill their cups. Isobel had decided (wisely) that she was done for the moment and so instead bumped Grace lightly with her shoulder.

"I'm glad you came," she said, smiling maybe a bit more brightly than she normally would. "You never come to parties with us anymore."

Grace shrugged, but smiled back. Tipsy Isobel was cheerful and affectionate and said things she normally wouldn't let herself say. "Me too," she said, although that wasn't quite true. But she wasn't about to ruin Isobel's happy mood. The girl was one of her closest friends and had been ever since they first started school together back in Kindergarten. Years of her grandmother babysitting the two of them, of writing stories and inventing games, and traveling together from one friend group to another over the course of middle school had drawn them close.

Marlie and Steph joined them with full plastic cups. Steph raised hers. "Sure you guys don't want anything? They have a ton of stuff."

Grace just shook her head.

Marlie took a sip of her drink, which was bright blue. "Grace doesn't drink," she said. "And don't worry about Isobel, she's a lightweight."

The blonde girl laughed. "Yup, I've had plenty."

Over another sip, Marlie eyed Isobel. Knowing both of them, and their current states, Grace could guess that she too was remembering their friend's tendency to be a lot more open under the influence of alcohol. And Marlie had not been anywhere near satisfied with the answers she got from Isobel the night before. "So Is, I want to hear more about the mystery boy."

Intrigued, Steph stepped closer. "Mystery boy?"

Marlie's eyes lit up with the opportunity to share a story, and to pry more information from her friend. "Last night, this guy none of us have ever seen before came up to Isobel and asked her to dance! It was the only slow song too."

Steph looked at Isobel. "Was he cute?"

"So cute," Marlie answered for her.

The other girl frowned. "He was weird," she said. "Kind of unfriendly, and he said he _didn't know_ how to slow dance. How do you not know?"

No one had a good answer for that, seeing as slow dancing was literally just stepping side to side with the music.

"But he was _cute_," Marlie emphasized.

Isobel was still frowning, apparently not swayed by his attractiveness (which Grace had to admit was considerable, although she preferred skinnier, scruffier types). Her eyes looked distant now, like she was trying to remember something important. "He looked familiar, I think."

"I thought you said none of you knew him," Steph said, waving to someone across the room. "Is he our year?"

Her eyes refocused. "He said he was new, and he's a senior. So we don't know him, but…" She hesitated. "I think I've seen him before."

Now that the conversation was getting more interesting, Marlie leaned in, smiling over the rim of her cup. "When?"

"I don't know."

The other three girls exchanged looks. Grace hadn't been too absorbed in the discussion, having been present for the whole thing the previous night, but this was something Isobel hadn't told her. She hadn't really said much of anything last night, really. Marlie had peppered her with questions but she evaded all of them and turned the conversation towards Cara instead, effectively absorbing the two in planning that particular conquest.

Masterfully done, really.

Grace noticed that manipulation, of course, and she couldn't ignore the fact that Isobel was abnormally quiet. But the girl would talk when she wanted to and not a second earlier, so she had let it go.

This though, was different. It was obviously bothering her, although it didn't seem so big a deal that she had seen him around. Their area wasn't really a big, impersonal one, after all. And their school was small enough that if he had been around to visit or something earlier in the year, there was a good chance she could have seen him.

"You don't know?" Marlie asked incredulously. She seemed to take it personally, like Isobel was trying to hide it from her. Which, to be fair, wasn't exactly unlike their friend but in this case Grace thought she was being honest.

Isobel bit her lip and said nothing.

The other girl rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said. "I'll just have to ask him myself." She swept off into another room, followed by Steph.

Grace watched them go and then looked back at Isobel. "You okay?" she had to ask. This was the other side of her tipsiness—she fixated on something and let it worry or upset her far too easily.

Isobel breathed deeply and then smiled, although the worry had not completely disappeared from her face. "I'm fine," she said. "Come on, let's go mingle."

* * *

There was always a homework plan. Grace was going to start it on Friday, but then Cara had invited them all over right after school to get ready for the dance. Then Saturday came, but she slept late and there was the whole "let's practice our magic powers" thing. And now, as usual, it was Sunday and she still hadn't done her homework.

She settled down at the coffee table, sitting on the floor with her back against the couch. From here she could look out the glass door into the little backyard that all the condos shared. It was a pretty sort of winter day if you only looked at the bright blue sky, but the picture was ruined by the dead, brown grass. Then again, it also looked cold. All she really wanted to do was curl up in her bed and catch up on TV shows but…

_No,_ she told herself firmly. _Homework first, then you can do whatever you want_.

Wasn't senior year supposed to be easy? Someone hadn't mentioned that fact to her teachers, and she was pretty sure that she had the same amount of homework as ever. Maybe more. And that didn't even include applying to colleges, which took so much time and effort that she was beginning to think the whole thing wasn't worth it at all.

After about five minutes of struggling through _Antigone_, Grace pushed the book aside and pulled out a blank sheet of paper. She let her pencil drag lightly across it, barely leaving a mark. Usually she had to think for a while about what she wanted to sketch but today she had no shortage of inspiration.

She could see it in her mind as she drew, a perfect spherical orb. A thin piece formed a loop at the top for the cord and curved down to the opposite pole, meeting another piece that went halfway up the side and curled outward and a metal peg that extended from the bottom of the crystal. Next to it she sketched herself, if that's really what it was. The girl she had seen in the mirror yesterday didn't resemble the Grace she knew, with frizzy auburn hair and awful skin, who always felt uncomfortably large next to her skinny friends.

She was beautiful, her hair in perfect Hollywood waves that fell nearly to her waist, wearing something that Grace would never wear in a million years. Her picture was black and white, largely because her colored pencils had been sharpened until there was basically nothing left of them, but in her mind she saw the outfit as it really was. The three-quarter sleeve top, with a neckline that scooped wide and low to show off prominent collarbones, was purple. Her skirt, knee-length and split on one side almost all the way to the waistband, was teal, as was the ribbon that wrapped around her torso and tied at her hips, leaving the ends to dangle down. The tights that covered her legs were striped green and blue, and her shoes were purple.

Even if she did have her pencils, Grace was pretty sure she couldn't recreate the wings. They reminded her of stained glass, translucent blue at the base fading towards the tips to green, edged in sharp black. She had been afraid to try them at first, that they were more decorative than functional, but despite their ethereal appearance they supported her weight.

Grace sat back to study her drawings. Without color they didn't do much justice to the real thing, but they were accurate enough and she was getting better at making things look three-dimensional. Her Studio Art class was pretty cool.

With a sigh, she looked back towards her reading. It was just so _dull_ and depressing. Why were the only books and plays considered classics so sad? Was it really necessary for everyone to die or be miserable to make good literature?

She looked out the back door for something else she could draw. At least then she could pretend she was doing work for one of her classes. It was the one she was best at anyway, and it wasn't like she was going to be able to do anything in college with any of her other subjects.

Idly, she started to sketch the yard. It wasn't a particularly interesting subject, but it was better than her homework and she could practice perspective. Grace looked at the row of bushes that lined the right side of the yard, contemplating exactly how to shade them to give the effect of pine needles.

The bush rustled and she froze, her pencil hovering above the paper. It was probably just a rabbit or something but for some reason all the hair on her arms was standing on end. She ran the fingers of her free hand over her left forearm, feeling the goose bumps.

It rustled again and still nothing emerged. The leaping feeling in her stomach was growing, like something was about to happen. But she couldn't imagine what. Why was she reacting like this to a squirrel or something moving around in the yard? She wasn't a particular fan of nature but this was ridiculous.

And if there was something wrong, was it her job to take care of it? Was that what this whole Guardian thing meant?

Decision made, Grace put down her pencil. She slid her feet into the only pair of shoes at the door, her mom's boyfriend's loafers, and went outside.

The bush was still now but somehow she knew that whatever was hiding there hadn't moved. It was waiting, biding its time. She crept closer, trying not to startle it.

There was something wrong with the air, as she got nearer. It was thick and heavy and… warm? Pausing, she breathed in deeply. Something was burning, but that smell was mixed in with something sharp and bright, like citrus. She watched as curls of smoke began to rise from the bush she had been watching so intently, the dark grey dispersing quickly in cold air.

"What in the…?" she whispered to herself. As quietly as she could, Grace took the last step and leaned over the bush.

Through the branches, which were thickly coated in dark green, she could see something scarlet and orange. The bush rustled again as the creature moved out from under it, looking up at her with bright black eyes.

It was a bird, but not like one she had ever seen. Its neck was long and graceful, and the slightly spread wings looked to be very large. The bird also had a long, elaborately feather tail that ended in plumes that looked like tongues of flame. It was so brightly colored that it almost hurt her eyes, red towards its body that faded through orange to yellow at the tips of its wings and tail.

Her eyes widened. "What are you?" she asked it quietly.

Grace hadn't exactly been expecting an answer, but the bird cocked its head to one side, still regarding her with interest, as if it had understood. It hopped a bit closer and she could feel the heat radiating from it.

Some of her favorite books were fantasy, so the concept of a bird like this was not entirely unfamiliar to her. But those were mythical, and this was real life, and she could barely bring herself to think the word, let alone say it.

"You're a…" The cold empty air seemed to wait for the declaration. "Phoenix?" she finished uncertainly, even more quietly than before.

At the pronouncement, the bird let out a call that sounded like the crackle of wood in a fireplace. Then it raised its brilliant wings, which were even larger than they had appeared, and took off, disappearing into the sky.

For almost a full minute, Grace watched the bird. How was that even…?

The burning smell had increased, which distracted her from her thoughts. She looked down to see that the bush was not just smoking but on fire.

"Shit!"

Okay, okay, she could do this. She was in charge of fire, right? If she could start them, she should be able to put them out too.

It would be embarrassing if she had to call Cara to do her water thing and put it out for her.

Grace closed her eyes and concentrated on the fire. She could feel it, not just the heat on the front of her shins but the pulse of the flame, how it was reaching out for more fuel to burn. She reached out a hand, pulling it to her, absorbing it into herself.

Somehow, the clumsy attempt worked. The flame only left a few blackened twigs to show it had been there at all. Even the rising smoke was quickly disappearing.

Grace stayed outside, staring at the bush, until her heart had slowed down to something resembling a normal rate. Then she went inside and sat back down, picking up her pencil. The next few minutes blurred together as she sketched.


	5. Chapter Four: Marlie

"Are you sure this is what you want to spend your Sunday doing?" Tom asked. This was at least the third time he had posed this question, and Marlie couldn't help but smile. He was a nice guy, almost too nice sometimes.

She looped a scarf around her neck, tucking the ends underneath her jacket before she zipped it. "I want to hang out with you," she said. "Anyway, I don't feel like doing any homework. We shouldn't even have school this week."

Tom opened the door for her before going around to his side of the car. "Well, thank you. This should be much more fun with you helping me." He gave her a slightly suggestive smile.

"Oh stop it," she said but she couldn't keep her face serious.

They spent the rest of the car ride arguing good-naturedly over the radio station. He made a show of complaining about her music choice but didn't change it. Marlie sang along loudly over his protestations.

Tom pulled into the driveway and they both got out of the car. He disappeared into the garage for a minute and came back with a large garbage bag overflowing with strands of Christmas lights. "Last chance to go get lunch instead," he warned.

That was beginning to sound tempting, especially as she noted just how much green lined the front of her boyfriend's house. But this had been her idea in the first place, when he told her he had to decorate before they could hang out, so she couldn't back out now. Besides, she thought, a grin slowly forming on her face, plants were apparently her specialty. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

She grabbed an armful of lights. "Come on, let's get this done."

Her boyfriend followed, looking confused. "You know, you don't have to pretend it's fun," he told her. "It's good enough that you're helping."

"You take the left side, I'll take the right."

He stopped. "But how are you going to reach the top of that tree? Do you want me to get you a ladder?"

Marlie turned back to look at him. "Oh, I think I'll be fine."

She almost laughed when he shrugged and went to work on the shrubs she had assigned him. He had no idea.

The largest pine tree in front of the house was on her side. Its top was about even with the start of the second floor. Marlie edged behind it, in the small space between the sharp branches and the brick wall. Checking to make sure no one was watching from any of the neighboring houses, she closed her eyes and reached out with her magic.

The tree was a brilliant living green in her mind against the duller bushes and the nearly dead grass. She reached up a hand to direct the top branches towards her.

When she opened her eyes, the tree was leaning down, close enough that she could reach up and loop the end of the string of lights around the highest branches. The tree straightened up and began to shift subtly in a way that somehow passed the string of lights in circles, moving towards the bottom of the tree.

Marlie just stared at her own work, blinking incredulously. After a few minutes, she laughed out loud. There was a power: she could make trees decorate themselves!

The lights for the bush were a big net, and since the top of this plant came only to her waist, she didn't need any Earth power for that one. She tucked it into place and moved on to the smaller tree next to the front steps.

Tom, who had only the bush and the small tree, was standing on the steps trying to fix the end of his strand around its top. He winced as the needles scratched his bare hands.

With a thought and an almost imperceptible gesture, Marlie directed the tree to pull the lights into itself. Tom let go of the lights with a start and they stayed there, fixed firmly in place.

"Okay, that was weird," he muttered to himself, but he picked up the lights and started looping them around the rest of the tree. When he turned around and saw Marlie, he stopped again. "You're done already?"

She shrugged. "I just have this tree," she said, indicating the one behind her.

This rendered him temporarily speechless. "But…" he said finally, "How did you…?"

Marlie gave him what she imagined to be an enigmatic smile and turned to her own tree.

They finished at about the same time, since Marlie had some magical help when Tom's back was turned. She ended up with her hands considerably less scratched than his, for which she was very grateful. When Tom's tree was done, he stood back to admire her work. "I never thought you were into landscaping."

"Hey, the quicker we finished, the quicker we could go inside and be warm."

Her boyfriend turned to her and wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her close. "You are amazing," he told her and kissed her firmly. "Now let's go get you some hot chocolate."

Well she liked that reaction. Maybe she should help out around his house more often. At least, with things she could use her magic for. The outside work, then.

A few minutes later she was settled at the kitchen table. Tom put a steaming mug in front of her and then sat down himself. They both sipped quietly for a moment. Marlie wrapped her freezing fingers tightly around the cup, letting the warmth seep into her skin. The hot chocolate was just cool enough to drink and it was deliciously rich and warm. She really did have the best boyfriend, didn't she? Lowering her mug a little bit, she smiled at him.

"Who knew you make such good hot chocolate?"

He put down his cup. "It's just warm milk and that mix you can buy at the supermarket," he said modestly. "But it is good, isn't it?"

"It's perfect," she said. "Most importantly, it's warm." She took another large sip, feeling the warmth spread from her throat and stomach.

Outside, the sky had started to darken. It was evening now, almost the time that her mom would want her home. "Is it really necessary for us to have school this week?" This was far from the first time Marlie had voiced this particular complaint, but it was no less vehement for being repeated.

Tom just shook his head. "It's only three days. And they barely count. I mean, you don't have any tests or anything, right?"

Marlie shook her head and frowned. "I'm just saying, it's a waste of time."

When she turned away from the window he was looking at her closely, concern in his dark eyes. "Hey," he said softly. "Is everything okay?"

The question left her speechless for a second. Was she doing or saying anything that suggested everything wasn't? She didn't think so. And besides everything was. Well… there was the small matter of her discovering she had powers and a responsibility to save the world or something like that. But he couldn't know about that, right?

"You've been quiet, this weekend," he said. "At the dance especially, it seemed like something was bothering you."

For a brief moment, Marlie imagined telling him. She thought about explaining the whole afternoon, making a flower grow out of his kitchen floor to prove it to him, showing him what she looked like with wings. Telling him how confused she was, how she loved the powers but was nervous about what would come with them and what they would all have to fight. She could see him being shocked of course, but also comforting and reassuring as he was about everything else in her life.

But what if he didn't believe her? What if he thought she was crazy? And even if she could prove the whole thing, he could decide it was too weird.

That was the thought that kept her silent. Instead of letting all her thoughts spill out her mouth, Marlie smiled. "Oh don't worry about me! Last week was just exhausting, with all those 'last big assignments' before break. And my mom's been getting on my case about finishing applications." She shrugged, hoping she was as good of an actress with him as she could be with her parents. "It's fine."

It seemed to reassure him, and he smiled back at her before picking up his hot chocolate in one hand. He reached out with his free hand, and she put her fingers in his. His hand was large and warm and comforting, but even if he couldn't feel this new wall between them, she could.

Marlie had been worried about fighting and figuring out what to do with magic that let her grow trees. Hiding the secret from the people she loved was something she had never considered.

* * *

Marlie was uncharacteristically quiet at lunch the next day. She picked at her sandwich, only half listening as Grace pulled out a piece of paper covered in pencil scribblings.

"I saw this in my backyard yesterday." She put the paper face up on the table, revealing a drawing colored in bright shades of orange and yellow.

Cara pulled the drawing towards her to look at it more closely. She was wearing her glasses today, which she only did when her eyes were too tired for contacts. And she wasn't the only one who looked exhausted. The ever-prominent roses in Anna's cheeks were faded, Grace's pale skin was almost ashy, and Isobel had dark bags under her eyes. None of the rest of the girls had boyfriends like she did, but that didn't mean no one was looking. Was it always going to be like this? Would they always look a little more tired, a little more anxious and stressed than they normally were? And if so, how long until someone noticed?

Cara pushed the paper back to the middle of the table. "A bird?"

"A bird that set the bushes on fire!"

Isobel's eyes rose from the paper to meet Grace's. "A phoenix?" she said quietly. "But how is that possible?"

Marlie shook herself out of her thoughts, trying to focus on the conversation. "A what?"

"Phoenix," Isobel answered easily. "A fire bird. They're not real." She glanced at the paper. "At least, they shouldn't be."

Figures that Isobel would recognize some sort of fantasy thing. Marlie needed to get that girl into real life. It was all well and good to defy cheerleader stereotypes by being smart—she herself did the same—but some of Isobel's interests were a little bit _too_ nerdy.

Cara nodded as if this whole thing made sense. "That's what the voice said, right?" She pulled out a bag of grapes and ate one. "There's magic here that shouldn't be."

"What did you do?" Isobel asked Grace.

The other girl folded up the paper and put it back in her bag. "I put out the fire, luckily. And the bird flew away."

"So it's probably off setting fires somewhere else," Anna pointed out. "Are there going to be more of these things? Is our job to take care of them?"

No one really had an answer for that. They sat in silence for the next few minutes. Marlie tried to force down the sandwich but she found herself not particularly hungry.

_I wonder why_, some part of her mind commented sarcastically.

"Tom noticed something wrong." Marlie wasn't sure she had actually spoken that thought out loud until four pairs of eyes rose from the table to look at her. "He was worried, especially after the dance."

Cara was the first to break the quiet left by that statement. "What did you tell him?" she asked hesitantly.

She wasn't sure if there was some sort of accusation in there, that she had told what she wasn't supposed to tell, but she let it go. "Nothing. I told him I had a lot of work last week and I was stressed about finishing applications."

Again, no one seemed to have a response to this.

"Well that's good," Cara said finally. "I mean, that sounds like a valid response, so he probably won't ask again."

Marlie fought the urge to roll her eyes. They were all completely missing the point. "But he _noticed_. And not just me, I think he noticed all of us. He may be the first, but he won't be the last to see that something's going on with us."

"She's right," Anna said softly. Marlie smiled gratefully at her oldest friend. "So what do you think we have to do?"

"I didn't really have a plan," Marlie admitted. "I'm just worried, that's all. It was something that I never thought of until yesterday."

The bell rang for the end of lunch, and they all started to pack up. Cara was the first to stand. "We definitely can't tell anyone," she said firmly. "We'll just… have to be more careful, I guess. Act normally, and think up good excuses to make in case anyone asks." She turned and left the table, declaring the conversation finished in a way.

Grace and Isobel left for their class, leaving Marlie and Anna.

"I think it will be alright," Anna said. She smiled. "I mean, we're all wonderful actresses, right?"

They both laughed, walking towards the hallway.

Something distracted Marlie, making her stop. The crowd pushed around her, as if they didn't even notice the obstruction. "Isn't that the guy Isobel was dancing with?" she asked Anna.

The other girl stood on her toes to look over her shoulder. "Yeah, I think so."

Marlie watched him pack up his bag, grinning at something one of the guys at his table said. He looked far from the odd, unfriendly person Isobel had described. And he was with the soccer team guys! But he couldn't be on the team, right? He had just gotten here. "Do you see who he's sitting with?"

Anna didn't look this time. "He's in my gym class, right before lunch," she explained. "We played soccer and he was really good, so I think they kind of adopted him."

Well, that was kind of how guys made friends. Maybe it wasn't that weird.

She was about to look away when he looked over at her. Their eyes locked for a second and his grin fell away. He abruptly turned and left the cafeteria, slipping easily through the mass of bodies until he had disappeared completely.

"Well that was weird." Quickly Marlie explained what had just happened to Anna. "There's something off about that kid," she finished. "I'm going to find out what."

* * *

Thank you for reading everyone! As I mentioned, the chapters might be a little further apart from here on out but I'm aiming for once a week. I apologize in advance if that doesn't happen :) Life is starting to get busy again


	6. Chapter Five: Anna

Anna wasn't sure how a three-day week could be so interminable. Actually, it was pretty much two days, since tomorrow was just a Christmas party. But yesterday had dragged on forever and now it was only the beginning of third period.

She glanced up at the clock: fifty-two minutes until lunch. Cara, who was sitting next to her, followed her eyes and gave her a small, commiserating smile.

The room was small and warm, every inch packed with desks. The only windows were high up on the outside wall, letting in the barest hint of weak winter light. Sometimes it was kind of cozy but now it felt claustrophobic. The air was so still that it seemed to be thickening.

Anna exhaled heavily. Her eyes widened as her breath became a breeze that rustled the papers on the desks and fluttered through hair and loose clothing. Several people turned around to see where the draft had come from. The teacher stopped her lecture for a minute to close the door and Cara turned to Anna, giving her an accusatory look.

"It was an accident!" she protested, so only Cara could hear.

The other girl fought to hide a smile and looked back at her books as the teacher opened her lecture notes again.

Before she could start talking, the loudspeaker crackled to life. "Code yellow," said a calm female voice—the principal. "Code yellow."

Everyone was still for a moment before the whispering started.

"Quiet!" the teacher ordered. "Close your computers and don't make a sound."

The school's other classrooms had two doors with a window in each and the students had to huddle against the wall so that the hypothetical intruder would not be able to see them. The windows of this room were too high up to be a concern, and with the windowless door closed it looked like a storage closet rather than a place where students would be taking classes. As long as they were quiet, they could stay at their desks.

Anna put her chin down on her folded arms and stared up at the clock. She tried to decide if this was making the time go slower or faster. On one hand, she didn't have to her teacher go on about philosophy. On the other, this was possibly even more boring.

Somewhere in the school, someone screamed.

Anna sat up so fast that she almost knocked the desk over. Cara gave her a concerned look, but she just shook her head. It couldn't have been real, right? Probably just someone hadn't shut their computer down, or…

There it was again, louder this time. The sound sent chills up her spine.

"Do you hear that?" she whispered to Cara.

The other girl frowned. "Hear what?"

"The scream!"

As Cara cocked her head to listen harder, the sound came again, so loud that it made her jump. "I don't hear anything," the other girl said.

Anna sighed in frustration, again accidently creating a draft that made several people sit up and look around. Something clicked into place in her head. "It's the air! I'm hearing it on the air!"

The girls shared a look as they realized the implications of this.

It wasn't a drill.

"We have to do something."

"We have to find Isobel," Cara pointed out. "We can't do much without transforming.

In the silent room, the teacher was already eyeing them, not looking happy. How would they get out of the room? Even if they were pretty close to the door, they were packed so tightly together that there was no way the other students wouldn't notice.

Anna glanced up at the high windows. Well that could work.

She nudged Cara with her elbow and nodded in the direction of the outside wall. Then she closed her eyes, concentrating hard. Wind began to pound against the glass from the outside. This was followed by larger thumps—apparently Cara had caught on to her idea and added her own powers. When the glass shattered, her eyes flew open.

Everyone had turned to look at the window, and the students on that side of the classroom had jumped out of their seats. For a moment, no one was looking at them.

"What were you throwing?" Anna asked after they slipped carefully out the door.

Cara couldn't keep the proud smile off her face, even in this situation. "Chunks of ice. Hopefully they didn't hit anyone when the window broke."

The hallway was deserted and completely silent. Apparently this intruder was upstairs. Anna focused on getting to Isobel as quickly as possible, trying to ignore the sounds being carried from the upper floor on the wind. As soon as they were transformed, they could fix this.

They were both running so intently that they almost crashed straight into the girl they were looking for. Isobel was standing outside her Bio lab, holding the glowing Heart and looking confused.

"What's going on?" she asked them. "It burned me, until I came out here. Is there really someone in the school?"

Anna explained quickly about the screaming. "We need to get Grace and Marlie. I know Marlie is upstairs, where is Grace?"

The blonde girl lifted the pendant. "Maybe the Heart can call them." She closed her eyes as if focusing hard, and Anna thought she felt something touch her mind. Then the Heart glowed brighter and she heard it like a shout.

_GET DOWNSTAIRS, NOW!_

Cara was rubbing her head. "Okay, I think that worked. But we shouldn't wait to transform."

Isobel nodded her agreement and the pendant split. Anna closed her eyes as the silver ribbon of light became a tornado that lifted her hair and ruffled her skirt. She stretched her arms above her head as it tore away her school uniform to replace it with a teal midriff-bearing shirt and long purple skirt slit up one side. The tights only made it a little less revealing, but she was grateful for even that much.

The three girls touched back to the ground to see that Grace and Marlie were running towards them, already transformed. Marlie reached them first.

"I heard this shout, in my head, and then I was transforming somehow. What's going on?"

As soon as the rest of the group was caught up, the girls flew off towards the stairs. But as they reached the cafeteria, they found that the intruders had come to them. The lights in the room flickered and went out, but the floor-to-ceiling windows gave enough light to see their opponents.

There were eight of them, all dressed in black. Their faces were uncovered but they were oddly blank, and all very similar. One had a gun raised and pointed straight at Marlie.

The girl froze and Anna dove at her, pushing her out of the air. The bullet hit the trophy case on the opposite wall, shattering the glass.

"Thanks," Marlie whispered. She helped the other girl to her feet and then looked back at the men. "I'll get them for that." For a moment, her eyes seemed to flash green.

Anna left her and took off again, watching the man with the gun. He seemed to be trying to decide where to point it next. With a blast of air, she knocked it out of his grip. It clattered across the floor and he looked up at her. Now his face showed life—his dark eyes burned with anger.

She flew backwards as he started towards her, finding herself pressed into the stairwell the men had just come down. He reached for her, his fingers brushing her ankle, before he was dragged backwards by a vine that wrapped around his leg.

Behind him, Marlie was grinning. "See? I got you too!"

Anna noticed a second man cornering Isobel and whipped him up in a tornado that knocked him against the wall. He slumped to the floor. "Yes!" This was kind of fun, if you ignored the life-threatening aspect of it. Next to her, Grace was holding off another one with a fist full of fire. He stepped back onto a patch of ice provided by Cara and fell hard to the floor.

Even with those three down, there were five more. And the first man was still fighting against the vine, which was looking pretty flimsy.

"Anna, look out!"

Anna spun to send out a blast of wind that knocked back the man who had been about to grab her from behind. She looked around to thank Isobel for the warning and froze. Her friend was locked in the grip of another one of the men, one large arm around her waist and the other across her throat. She was kicking violently but it didn't seem to be having much of an effect.

Flying towards her friend, Anna found her way blocked by a younger man. More specifically he was her age and his face was familiar. But what was the new guy doing here?

He held out an arm to stop her but he was looking at Isobel. Very quickly, he jumped at the man, holding a small object against his temple. The man fell to the floor, releasing the girl. Isobel collapsed to her knees, massaging her neck.

After a moment and a few deep breaths, she took Anna's offered hand with a grateful smile. Both girls turned to look at the newcomer.

"Jonathan?" Isobel said incredulously. "What did you do to him?"

The boy—Jonathan—shrugged. "I could have knocked him out myself but that was easier to do without hitting you. But why would you let yourself get grabbed like that?"

Isobel's eyes flashed with anger. She opened her mouth to argue but Anna spoke first.

"Thank you," she said. "Now can we get rid of the rest of them?" She turned around to see who she should take on next. One man had pulled a knife from his belt, and she prepared to take it just as she had the other man's gun.

Before she could do so, the man stopped. His companions did the same. They stayed frozen for a second and then disappeared.

The cafeteria was suddenly silent. Isobel was staring at the spot where her former captor had vanished. Cara had her arms raised like she was going to punch someone and Marlie's vine crumpled to the floor.

Grace dropped her hands, letting the fire go. "Where did they go?"

Jonathan was crouched on the floor, his hands hovering over the spot where one of the men had been. After a moment, he rose. "They were called back," he answered. "Their creator sent them here with some purpose, and either gave up or…"

"Or?" Isobel prompted.

"Or they succeeded."

Anna wasn't sure what exactly they might have been sent to do, but she shivered at the thought of them having done it. After all, they hadn't yet seen what the men had done upstairs.

Marlie's vine was pulled back into the floor with a wave of her hand. "Well we were beating up on them, right? I bet they gave up."

Anna looked to the apparent expert on the subject. He didn't look so sure.

The loudspeaker came to life again. "The code yellow is over," the principal said. "However, because the lights seem to be out, you are all dismissed for the remainder of the day."

"That's good," Anna said. "I don't think I could go back to class after that." And if the "drill" was over, everyone upstairs was probably okay. Maybe the men had come straight to the cafeteria. But who had screamed?

Isobel lifted a hand to change them all back to their normal forms. Jonathan watched this process with some interest, his eyes fixed on the glowing Heart. The girl covered it with her hands until it disappeared. Eyes on the boy, she addressed the rest of them. "We need to have a team meeting," she said. "You can all come to my house. You too," she added, addressing Jonathan. "I don't know how you're involved in this, but I want to."

* * *

A half hour later, they were gathered in Isobel's kitchen. Her mom had raised an eyebrow at the lone male in their company but she sent them downstairs with chips and salsa and a bowl of grapes.

The girls sat down at the table but Jonathan remained standing, pacing as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to—or was allowed to—sit down.

Isobel turned to him immediately. "You. Talk. Now."

"What she means is, we would be very interested in hearing what you know about us, and about those guys who were here today." Anna smiled, trying to look as friendly as possible. He had saved Isobel's life, so he couldn't be too bad. Right?

He stopped pacing and folded his arms behind his back, like he was some sort of soldier. "I'm not from here," he said slowly, carefully. "I'm from another world, and I am part of a group that is investigating something here."

This Guardian thing was really starting to sink in, Anna reflected, if the news that the new guy at school was an alien (albeit, a very human looking one) wasn't even surprising.

"What are you investigating?" Cara wanted to know.

"Someone or something on Earth is pulling magic here, from our world and others," he explained. "We have to find it and stop it before the barriers between the worlds collapse."

Well that sounded familiar. "So that's why the voice told us that there is magic here that shouldn't be here," Anna said. "And maybe that's why there was a phoenix in Grace's yard."

Jonathan looked at her curiously. "The voice?"

"Yeah, that's how we found out about our powers," she said. "Well it was kind of a video… anyway it's a long story. But that's what it told us."

He nodded. "That makes sense, and the phoenix does too. They are common enough in the magical realms but not in this one."

Marlie served herself a pile of chips, ignoring the salsa. "So that explains why you're here. But who were the guys at school?"

From his pocket he pulled a rolled up piece of paper, yellowed with age. "I'm not sure. I think they have something to do with the vacuum. They have the right magical signature, anyway. It's a match."

He unrolled the paper to show a detailed map of the towns where they lived. At the school there was a faint red glow.

"I can't locate the main source," he said, shaking his head. "It's been hidden somehow. That's why I'm here."

There were other glows too, of all different colors, including a cluster of dots that very much resembled the shades associated with each of their powers. Before Anna could ask about this, he rolled up the map again and thrust it back into his pocket.

"I have a question." Isobel stood up, walking slowly towards the boy until she stood directly in front of him. "If you're looking for this magic, why are you wasting your time at our _high school_?"

He opened his mouth, presumably with a good response to this, but Isobel wasn't done.

"Why did you come looking for me, specifically, at that dance? How did you know who we are and that we have powers? And if you knew, why didn't you say anything?"

Anna was pretty sure she had never seen Isobel like this. She was a cheerful, upbeat sort of person for the most part. Occasionally she had a passing complaint about a teacher or something but spitting mad was not a normal state for her. But now she had her fists clenched, her face white with anger, eyes blazing.

She almost felt sorry for Jonathan. Then again, Isobel had some good points, especially as she was the one he had approached specifically without even hinting his connection to the information they had just gotten.

Jonathan stepped back, raising his hands defensively. "Your magic registers on the map as well," he said quickly. So she had been right about that. "It wasn't exactly the same as what we were tracking but it was similar enough that we couldn't ignore it. We determined that you weren't responsible but wanted a closer look, so I enrolled in your school."

"But we're on your side," Cara said. "You didn't know that?"

He shrugged. "Not until today. But as I said, we made sure you weren't responsible."

Isobel had her arms crossed over her chest. "Right. And how exactly did you do that?"

Anna didn't think she was imagining the redness that was spreading across his cheeks. "I talked to you," he said quietly.

"Seriously? I did all the talking and you didn't find out anything about me except my name."

He looked down at the floor, speaking so softly that they could barely hear. "Not then," he said. "Before that."

The confusion made Isobel look slightly less angry. Maybe that was why, when Jonathan looked up, he didn't immediately look back at the floor. "But that was the only time I met you, before this."

"I was wrong about you," he said, still softly but more firmly. "So I had to make you forget."

Isobel turned even whiter, if that was possible. Without a word, she turned around and marched up the stairs.

Everyone was silent for a full minute.

"Well," Anna said decisively. "If you're going to work with us, you better go talk to her."

* * *

Finally, something happens! I don't write action scenes very often, so I hope that turned out okay.

Good catch on Marlie's Guardian form! I meant to include that in each chapter, but I must have missed that one. Marlie wears an off-the-shoulder cropped teal top with long sleeves that come to points on the tops of her hands. Her skirt is purple, short and slit up the left side and a strip of fabric curls around her navel on the same side. Her shoes are high heeled purple boots that come to about her knees. And she has the tights like all the other girls.

Some extra notes on Anna's Guardian form, since she was kind of vague: the top has a round neck and little strips of fabric curl in on each side. Her shoes are purple flats.

If there are any other details I left out that you're curious about, just ask! And again, thank you so much for reading.


	7. Chapter Six: Isobel

By the time she reached the top of the stairs, Isobel had concluded that she didn't particularly want to see anyone. She avoided the kitchen, where she could likely find at least some member of her family, and slipped out the front door.

Outside it was freezing cold and the sun was already sinking behind the bare trees. Luckily she had decided to wear a sweater that day but it wasn't quite warm enough. Her knees were cold between the hem of her skirt and her knee socks. But she wasn't going back inside. Stubbornly, she wrapped her arms around herself and started walking towards the street.

Her mind was full of flashes of what she thought had been a dream. The arm around her waist, grabbing her from behind—what if it hadn't been a premonition of the attack today, but a memory of whatever _he_ had done to her? She didn't remember his face appearing in her dream but then, hadn't there been a point where she couldn't see anything at all?

"Ugh!" She whirled around, ready to pace back the other direction. When she saw who had joined her outside, Isobel stopped short.

For a long moment, they looked at each other, the girl disbelieving and the boy (trying) to appear contrite. Without a word, Isobel walked past him and beyond the edge of her property.

"Isobel! Wait!"

She kept walking. Seriously? After all of that he thought she would want to see him? What was he going to say, anyway? 'Oh hey, so sorry I kidnapped you and then wiped your memory. Everyone makes mistakes.'

Behind her, feet pounded against the concrete. Almost before she felt the hand on her shoulder she was facing him, one eyebrow raised. "Really? You're going to grab me again?"

He pulled his arm back, folding both behind his back. "Um, no. Sorry."

"_Sorry_. Yes, that makes it _all_ better."

"I was doing my job! And you're fine, aren't you?"

Oh, now he was angry? As if he had anything to stand on! How would he like it if she went to the police? Isobel paused to consider how that conversation would go. 'Hello, officer, this guy wiped my memory...'

Okay, so maybe not.

Apparently, Jonathan reconsidered his right to be angry. He stepped back and looked slightly more apologetic. "Okay, what would make it better?"

She just looked at him.

"Look, we're after the same thing, me and your… group. Wouldn't it be better if we could be civil?"

Again, acting like they had both been wronged in this situation. And she hadn't missed his tone. But then, he had a point.

Isobel hesitated briefly, wondering how exactly he could make up for this. Nothing could make up for it completely, but she had an idea for a good start. "Tell me everything."

This was evidently not what he had been expecting. "What?"

She started walking in the opposite direction, calling back to him over her shoulder. "Everything you took out of my head, I want it back. And walk."

He caught up easily and then matched her stride. "Why?"

"Because I'm too annoyed to stand still. Now go."

Jonathan was silent for a moment, and she almost urged him on again. But then he started talking. "I told you that I work for a group that is investigating the source of a power vacuum somewhere in your world. And you saw the map. Well, when we got here, you were the spot on it that lit up the brightest. The other girls were there too, but very faintly. I sent the others on my team to try and track them down and I went after you."

How could he speak so matter-of-factly about being from another world? Isobel decided that he must have grown up with the information. Maybe where he was from everyone traveled between worlds and everyone could do magic. "So did they all get kidnapped too?"

He shook his head. "No, the others never found them. Like I said, they were very faint, barely there at all."

She nodded and he continued.

"But I was able to find you. I waited until you were alone and then…"

Here he paused. Isobel barely kept herself from rolling her eyes. "Go ahead, you can't sound too much creepier than you already do."

He looked carefully away from her, off towards one of the brightly lit houses. "I knocked you out and brought you back to my world."

This, she reflected, should have made her even angrier. But at this point she was barely surprised. "With the rock thing, like you used on that guy today? Or did you just punch me?"

Jonathan ignored this. Well, she probably would have noticed a giant bruise across her face. "When you woke up, I questioned you. I determined quickly that if you were responsible, it was not intentional. Then I tested to see if you absorbed magic from an artifact I had. When you didn't, I decided you could not be involved. I brought you back to your world and erased your memory of the questioning."

For a while, the only sound was their feet against the pavement. Isobel stared so intently at the Christmas lights outside the house at the end of the block that they all blurred into a bright globe.

Even if she knew everything that had happened, she didn't have her own memories of those hours, and she never would. But then, as he said, they did have to get along for the sake of her friends and for the sake of stopping whatever was pulling magic out of other worlds and putting it here where no one knew how to deal with it.

"Why was my power so bright on your map, brighter than the others?" It was the only non-hostile question she could come up with at the moment. And she did want to know.

Jonathan looked at her, surprised. "I'm not sure. I don't know enough about the Guardians. But you are the Keeper of the Heart?"

Isobel nodded, and the amulet inside her gave a warm pulse of agreement.

"You are the leader, then. Your magic must be the strongest."

There it was again, that pang deep in her stomach. She gave a derisive laugh. "Definitely not."

Now he looked even more confused. "But it must be."

Images of the fight earlier that day flashed through her mind. While her friends had held the men back with their magic, she had been helpless. That man had almost gotten her (and again she felt the strangling arms around her body). Would have, if not for Jonathan.

Well, maybe he had some redeeming qualities.

"I don't have any powers," she said softly, looking down at her feet. "I can fly, and I can give everyone else their powers but I can't do anything myself." She looked up at him, embarrassed to find that her eyes were slightly wet. "You saw me today. I just transform them and stand back hoping I don't get in the way."

They had made their way around the circle and were back in front of Isobel's house. She stopped at the edge of the driveway, not particularly in the mood to go inside yet.

Jonathan stopped as well. "In my world, the Guardians are a legend. No one believes they are real, at least not now, but everyone knows who they are. And I don't remember the stories but I know the Keeper was the most powerful of them."

Isobel couldn't help but smile at the thought of being a story told to children.

"Maybe you just haven't learned your magic yet," he added softly.

She looked up at him. "I won't be able to forget," she told him. "At least not quickly."

He nodded solemnly.

"But thank you."

* * *

"Are those what I think they are?"

Isobel slid into her seat and pushed the tin to the center of the table. It was bright red, decorated with snowflakes, and filled with baked goods in honor of Christmas.

She grinned at Marlie. "Of course! I don't think I'd be allowed to come to a class party without them at this point."

Marlie said nothing and smiled at something over Isobel's shoulder. Isobel tipped her head back to see Jonathan standing there, holding something in his arms. Quickly she sat up and turned around to get a better look.

"Without what?" he asked before she got a chance to say anything.

Grace sat down next to Marlie and reached for the tin. "Isobel makes the best cookie bars."

Isobel pulled it away. "They're for later." To Jonathan she added, "It's just chocolate chip cookie dough in a brownie pan. So they're square." She pried open the tin to show him the neat rows, golden brown and studded with chocolate chips. The smell of brown sugar and butter filled the air.

"Everyone asks her to make them now," Marlie told him. "Even the teachers."

Jonathan gave her an odd look. "So this is what you do when you're angry? Run and bake?"

She glared at him, wrapping her arms protectively around the tin. It was an accurate statement, but just a lucky guess. He didn't know anything about her. "Oh really? _You_ have something to say about that?"

"So what's the package?" Anna asked quickly.

Isobel had entirely forgotten that he was carrying something. It was vaguely rectangular and wrapped in brown paper.

Apparently they had no wrapping paper where he came from.

Jonathan looked surprised, like he had also forgotten what he was holding. He glanced down at it. "Oh, this is for all of you. They're books about the Guar—"

"Thanks!" Cara said before he could finish the word. "Not here," she added quietly. "We'll all meet after school."

Isobel bit back a groan. Yes, they had determined that they could get along but she hadn't expected him to be part of every single thing they did together. Cara's after school plan had been baking cookies and watching a movie but apparently now they were doing research instead.

Wonderful.

* * *

The day before Christmas break started was probably the most useless day of school in existence. Of course, that was also the only reason people showed up. They could all suffer through twenty-minute classes if it meant a good two hours of singing Christmas carols, exchanging gifts, and eating more sugar than could possibly be good for them.

Isobel sat down again at their lunch table, opening the tin and pushing it to the middle of the table. The top layer of bars went almost immediately, and she smiled as she took one for herself. There was nothing better than feeding people.

"So what movie do you guys want to watch?" Cara asked between bites. "I have _Elf_, _It's a Wonderful Life—" _

"Elf!" Marlie interrupted. "I always watch _It's a Wonderful Life _with my grandparents."

As she was about to second the vote for _Elf_, Isobel caught a glimpse of movement from behind Marlie. She watched as one of the evergreen trees along the wall started to lean forward, as if sensing Marlie's excitement.

This was bizarre. But then again, what hadn't been in the past week?

The branches strained towards her friend, needles nearly brushing her shoulder. "Uh, Marlie? I think that tree is trying to say hi."

The girl jumped to her feet and the tree snapped back towards the wall. There was a sharp sound of glass breaking as several ornaments connected with the concrete. A shower of pine needles fell to the ground.

Jonathan and Cara stared at Marlie while Isobel looked around the room to see if anyone had noticed. The din of overlapping conversations had definitely drowned out any noise the incident had made, but it would be hard to explain the moving tree. But no one was looking in their direction.

Marlie sank back into her chair.

It was silent for a long moment. Then Cara stood up. "What does everyone think about practicing a little more this afternoon?"

They all nodded.

"Good. I'll be right back." She strode off across the cafeteria, barely stopping to greet friends at other tables.

Jonathan took Cara's empty seat, dropping his parcel on the table with a loud thump. "I can bring these books to you then, if that's alright?"

The other girls agreed readily. Isobel sighed, resting her chin on her folded arms. This was going to be a long afternoon. Apparently break hadn't quite started yet.

She turned her head sideways to look out the windows that made up one entire wall of the cafeteria. The naked branches made sharp black lines against the grey sky and the grass had turned to a sickly yellow. Little white flakes fluttered down, almost floating rather than falling.

Smiling brightly, Isobel sat up. At least it was finally snowing.

* * *

I am so sorry this took me so long! Apparently the once-a-week goal was very ambitious. But I do have the whole story planned out (and two more after this) so while it might take me a little longer than I expected to write, it will definitely be finished.

Thanks to any readers who stuck with this story despite the long wait!


	8. Chapter Seven: Cara

Her decision had definitely been the right one.

There was no question that they all needed practice. She had taken to playing with her coffee every morning when her mom wasn't looking, with less disastrous results than the first time. But forming shapes out of a cup of liquid was not exactly the same thing as using water to fight. And the meeting yesterday hadn't lasted too long after Isobel stormed out and Jonathan spent a good hour convincing her not to kill him.

So yes, calling a practice session was something that _someone _had to do.

The problem was _how _to practice.

Her kitchen was the gathering spot for today. With her parent's out and her brother at basketball practice, no one would bother them. Still, there weren't many options for throwing magic around in here and her family probably would notice if they destroyed the house.

Isobel stood at the window, watching the snow. It was starting to stick now, but not enough to hide the tips of the grass. The flakes were giant and fluffy looking—all in all, a very pretty picture. Perfect for the first day of winter break.

"And the barest twig on the elm tree, was ridged inch deep with pearl," Isobel murmured to herself as stood at the back door.

"It's a poem," Anna explained to Jonathan, who looked slightly concerned for the other girl's sanity. "Last year we had to recite poems every week in class. And Isobel can't seem to forget anything she memorizes." She said the last part pointedly.

The blonde girl turned back to the others, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry. I'll stop."

Cara cast her eyes around the room, looking for something that they could practice on. Her eyes lit on the brown paper package Jonathan had been carting around at school.

Well it wasn't exactly what she had been looking for, but it was still relevant.

"So what are those books you brought us?" she asked him.

He ripped the string with a sharp tug. Pulling the paper away, he slid the books across the counter towards her.

There were two of them, both very thick and old. One had a dark blue cloth cover, the other was wrapped in worn brown leather. The pages were frayed and yellowing around the edges.

The girls gathered around the counter, four sitting and Isobel leaning against the opposite side. Cara flipped open the leather book first, skimming the words on the first page.

She couldn't read them. "What language is this in?"

Jonathan edged in between her chair and Marlie's. "Sorry, I didn't even think. Do you want me to read it to you?"

"But what is it?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"Then how can you read it?"

The boy frowned. "It's like… a translation spell? That's not exactly right, but I see and hear every language the same instead of having to learn new ones."

Marlie sighed. "That would make Spanish so much easier."

Cara nodded, somewhat satisfied with the explanation although she had a dozen other questions. Maybe later. "Well then yes, please tell us what it says."

He shifted a little and pulled the book closer to him. "It's a story of the origin of the Guardians," he explained. He looked down at the book, eyes "There were four dragons: red, black, yellow, and pearl. Each had an affinity for a different one of the elements. One day the people below them cried out for their help. There was a terrible drought and their crops were dying. The dragons went to the ocean and gathered up water in their mouths and then let it fall over the land, nourishing the dry soil.

"But the emperor of the land was angry that the dragons had helped the people. As punishment, he locked them away in four mountains, cut off from the sea and sky. The nymph Xin Jing pleaded with the emperor to release them, but he refused. She was not powerful enough to undo his spell, but she could change it. She transformed the four mountains into four rivers, which became the four rivers of China. Her spirit along with the essence of each dragon became a crystal orb. This was the Heart of Candracar."

Cara looked up from the book, where she had been trying to follow along despite not knowing what she was reading. Isobel was holding the crystal, which was silent and empty at the moment.

She held it by the cord to let it dangle at eye level. "Do you think that's true?"

"So does that mean we're all descended from dragons or something?" Marlie asked. She sounded skeptical of the idea. Well, she wasn't one for fantasy.

Anna stood up to peer at the book, as if she could get something else from the foreign words. "Except Isobel," she pointed out. "She's a nymph."

"I told you, it's just a legend," Jonathan said. He flipped the book closed. "It's a story they tell to little kids. No one in my world thinks the Guardians really exist."

Giving up on learning anything more from the pages, she looked up at him. "So there's just a whole fictional history for a bunch of mythical… super hero girls?"

"Super heroes!" Isobel grinned. "I like that."

Grace had pulled the other book towards her and was flipping through the pages. "These are beautiful."

The book was full of paintings, Cara saw when she looked over. The illustrations showed the Guardians, many different girls in different outfits but always in purple and turquoise and always using elemental magic. On this page, they fought an army on the edge of a lake. The girl coaxing the water into an enormous wave wore a turquoise dress in a simple, old-fashioned style and her long dark hair was braided down her back.

Were these really past Guardians? And if they were, was this some far-off ancestor of hers? Or were they only related by the powers they shared? If it was hereditary, her mom probably would have mentioned it by now. This wasn't the kind of thing her mother would let her suffer through alone, if she had any knowledge of it.

Anyway, as lovely as the paintings were, they wouldn't be all that helpful if those men came back. "Jonathan, do you think you could read through the other book and see if there is anything about our powers?"

He nodded and picked up the leather bound book, moving over to the kitchen table.

She turned back to her friends. "And we have to practice."

The crystal sparked to life in Isobel's palm, filling with hot pink light. She stood up as it began to float over her palm. "Unite!"

When they all floated to the ground a moment later, Jonathan was staring. Cara remembered that while he had seen them all transformed before and was obviously no stranger to magic, he hadn't caught the crazy light show that got them all there. Actually, he was the first to see it from the outside. As strange as it felt to be surrounded and filled with that power, it probably looked even stranger to him.

Still, she had given him something to do. She gave him a look and his eyes immediately returned to the book.

"So who wants to go first?"

* * *

A half hour later, nothing had been destroyed but that was the most she could say for their practice session.

Cara sighed, letting the water she had been sculpting fall into the sink with a splash. Grace, who had been standing the closest, threw up her arms to block the droplets that flew at her. Fortunately, her hands were free of fire.

A breeze swept across the island, rustling the pages of the blue book and knocking a pile of napkins to the floor.

"Okay," Anna said, dropping her arms. "This is kind of useless."

Marlie looked up from the ends of her hair, which she had been studying intently. "Seriously. You don't have a single real plant in this room."

To be fair, there was an orchid on the mantle. But it looked kind of fake from down here. And besides, what exactly was Marlie going to do with it?

Over by the fridge, Isobel was laying out squares of cookie dough on a baking sheet. Cara contemplated saying something, but decided to leave it alone. Isobel didn't really have anything to practice besides flying and there was nowhere to go in here.

Grace was looking in the same direction, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Hey Isobel, can I try something?"

The other girl lifted her head from her meticulous arranging. "Hm?"

"I have an idea." Isobel shrugged, so Grace picked up the cookie sheet and put it on the top rack of the oven. Leaving the door open, she sent a wave of fire to the bottom of the oven, underneath the bottom rack. Then she closed the door.

Something about this didn't seem safe. But at least it made the cookie baking somewhat productive. Cara went over the steps to putting out a kitchen fire in her head while she watched. Grace was standing right at the oven door, her green eyes narrowed in concentration, her palms flat against it on either side of the window.

The kitchen was silent and tense. Cara decided she probably wasn't the only one imagining her house going up in flames. But the fire didn't leave the safety of the oven, and after a few minutes, Grace exhaled deeply and stepped back. Then she smiled.

"Let's see if that worked."

Isobel handed her a pair of potholders and she opened the oven door, pulling out the tray of cookies. They smelled sweet and only a little bit burnt. Grace's smile widened as the other girl used a spatula to check the bottoms. Most were golden brown, except for the back corner ones that had gotten darker.

She picked up one of the lighter cookies. "Success!" she declared, before taking a bite. Her mouth dropped open as she winced. "Ah, hot!"

Cara gave her a look. "You're the one who just cooked them!"

Grace swallowed the piece of cookie with difficulty. "Yeah but…" She trailed off, apparently having no good rebuttal.

"Okay," Cara said after taking a deep, calming breath. "I think we should just do this another day."

Across the counter, Jonathan picked up a cookie gingerly and then broke it in half, letting some of the heat escape. The corner of his mouth lifted in an amused (or maybe mocking) sort of smile. "Oh no, please continue. Your practice is very entertaining."

Marlie laughed loudly as Isobel threw a cookie at him. He ducked quickly, letting it sail over his shoulder. Grace turned her glare on him and Cara answered her own suggestion. Yes, another day.

* * *

The first morning of break dawned perfectly white. It had snowed all through the afternoon and most of the night, icing the trees and rooftops and covering her backyard with a thick, fluffy blanket.

Cara sipped her coffee slowly. She might have claimed that she was savoring the morning in all of its winter glory but the truth was that she was procrastinating. For college seniors, winter break didn't mean work was over. The deadline of January 1st loomed ever closer.

She had a plan, back in August. She knew where she wanted to go to college and could apply early. By Christmas break she would be set, with no questions or lingering doubts in her mind while everyone else had to wait until April.

In November, the thin white envelope had arrived in the mail. Cara knew what it said even before she opened it. The word had been hanging over her head ever since that day: _deferred_. Better than _rejected_ but in a lot of ways, more painful. Now she had to wait. And she hated waiting.

It would have been less painful if she didn't have classmates who had gotten accepted. Marlie had been deferred just like her but two guys in her grade and Isobel had gotten in. And Isobel didn't even want to go there! Sure, she claimed that she didn't know where she was going and it was one of her top schools but she would be equally happy at one of her other favorites (at least one of which she had already been accepted at).

Sometimes it was hard to be around that girl.

Cara had her own acceptances, of course. One fairly good school in the area accepted anyone from her school with a certain SAT score. She also got into the honors program at the state school. She wasn't without options. But none of them were particularly attractive options.

So here she was, spending her Christmas break working on applications. Or she would be, as soon as she finished her coffee.

Sadly, her cup was nearly empty. Cara took the last sip and then opened her laptop. She had a Common App essay already, of course, but several of the schools had their own extra essays.

_What is the most profound thing that has happened to you during your senior year and how has it affected you?_

She hated when they tried to get creative. Couldn't they just ask her what she wanted to do with her life or why she would be a good fit? That was simple. This was, well, not.

Her mind drifted immediately to the events of the past week. While perhaps not profound, exactly, it was definitely the most unique experience she had this year, and maybe throughout all of high school. Then again, how could she use that as a college essay?

Lazily and (mostly) not serious, she started typing. _My friends and I recently discovered we have magic powers and are responsible for saving the universe. We can sprout wings and skimpy outfits and fight with the elements. The other day we defended our school against intruders. Of course, the intruders just disappeared so we don't know what they wanted. _

Well that was ridiculous. She read it over and then held her finger down on the delete key until the page was blank again.

It occurred to her that she had no idea how long these powers, and the mission that came with them, would last. Would they be Guardians forever? Or was this a one time thing? She had always subconsciously assumed that it would be over when high school was, when she and her friends went their separate ways (and she was sure they would, although she wouldn't mind if Marlie also got in to her top school and they went together). But what if it wasn't? What if there was more to do?

Fully distracted now, Cara tried to figure out how that would work. It would be a hassle to get together, especially if they were scattered down the coast. Without Isobel, they couldn't do much of anything. Maybe they would all learn to control their own transformations. Or maybe they could teleport.

This was getting ridiculous. Cara firmly pushed the thoughts away. No matter what some mystical voice had said, her future was not magic and other worlds. Her future was this—applications and then college and then a great job. And then this strange episode of her life would fade into memory.

* * *

As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!


	9. Chapter Eight: Grace

I have to apologize yet again for such a long delay. Now that it's summer I will have more time to write, and I have the rest of the story outlined. I'll keep the waiting time between chapters a lot shorter!

* * *

There was a clock on the wall. Despite the fact that said wall was behind her, Grace was very conscious of its presence. But she had promised herself that she wouldn't check the time. Maybe, if she didn't know how many hours she had to go, they wouldn't feel so long.

Okay, there was pretty much no chance of that. This job was interminable no matter what.

When people asked about her job, she did her best to come up with good stories for them. Her friends didn't work, so they pictured the experience as something out of a sitcom where she had wacky coworkers who played practical jokes on each other and insane customers. And she did have a few times that she could file away for later to make people laugh.

Most of the time, though, it was nothing but tedium. She stood at her register watching customers unload perfectly ordinary items—a mother with a baby and a cart full of diapers, a college student with cheap shampoo and a trash can and jumbo packs of macaroni and cheese, a family piling the conveyor belt with DVDs, popcorn, and movie theater-sized boxes of candy.

It was remarkably easy to figure out a customer's life story based on what they bought at a store that sold everything.

Telling herself these stories took up a good amount of her time as she went through the mindless work of scanning and packing and saying "Have a good day" to everyone, whether they were friendly or rude. If she had time to sit down and write one day, dozens of characters would spring to mind based on the people she spent her days watching. So there was that, at least.

Now, though, with winter break in full swing and everyone she knew hanging out on their couch alternately watching the snow outside (it was flurrying again today, as if month of December was trying to make up for lost time) and very bad TV, it was almost infuriating to be stuck here.

Grace put on a smile for the group of high school kids approaching her register. They were younger than her, maybe freshmen (although one of them at least had to be able to drive, since there were no parents in sight). The girl with the basket smiled back and started placing items on the belt.

"Hello," she said cheerfully. "How are you today?"

Grace considered herself to be a generally friendly sort of person. And during the first few shifts of this job, she had engaged every customer in a long conversation. At some point, though, that had gotten exhausting. She was sometimes grateful when they had no desire to talk to her, but even more grateful when they started the conversation. It was nice to have some actual human interaction to break up the long hours.

"I'm doing well, thank you," she said with a more genuine smile. "How are you?"

The girl lined up a box of brownie mix, a fat tub of icing, and a box of those holiday sugar cookies that everyone loved so much. "Oh, I'm great! We're all so glad it's break." One of the girls behind her nodded in agreement. The other was distracted by the magazine rack. "We're just baking and watching movies all day."

Well that sounded like perfection. Grace groaned a little. "I'm jealous. Eat some brownies for me, okay?"

The girl promised she would as she pulled out her wallet to pay. Behind her, the third girl threw a few magazines on the belt. "Look who's on the new Cosmo!"

After the girl paid, she and her friends left in a whirl of cheerful conversation and laughter. Grace wanted to run after them and beg them to take her with them but she felt that might be a little too melodramatic. It was afternoon already (which she knew not from breaking her rule about the clock but because she was long back from her lunchbreak). Soon enough, she could go home and do the same thing.

Were any of her friends around tonight? They had talked about this the other day. Marlie had a double date with Cara and whatever-his-name-was that they were trying to set her up with. Isobel and Anna both had things with their families.

Alright, then, probably not. Still, she could watch TV and eat cookies well enough on her own.

"Slow day?"

Grace turned around to see Derek, one of her regular coworkers. They happened to be scheduled at a lot of the same times, so she had gotten to know him pretty well since she had started this particular job at the end of the summer. He was a year older than her and was working and taking classes at the local community college while he saved up to transfer to a four-year school. When they had first met he was so different than anyone she went to school with that she wanted to be friends with him immediately.

It didn't hurt that he was taller than her, with messy dark hair and bright green eyes and a wicked grin when he made particularly bad jokes.

She leaned back against the shelf of magazines. "Isn't it always?"

He shrugged. "Mine are always faster when you're here." His delivery was deadpan for a few seconds before he broke into that smile.

Grace rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile back. "Yes, I'm very entertaining, I know."

"Oh you are," he assured her. "For example, when you had a lobster crawling across your register—"

_That_ had been awful. Shouldn't they sedate those things before they sold them to people? She, for one, was very doubtful about her ability to boil and then eat a living, moving animal. But then, she didn't actually like lobster so maybe she just wasn't motivated enough. It wasn't like they were cute. "Are you mocking my misfortunes?"

Derek pressed a hand to his chest. "I would never!"

An older woman approached her register, her cart full of cat food and replacement cloths for those little plastic dusters. She didn't say a word as she unloaded everything onto the belt.

"Excuse me miss, but do you by chance have any pets?" The voice belonged to Derek, who had snuck up closer behind Grace when she turned around to deal with the customer. She elbowed him and he grunted softly but the question was already out there.

The woman didn't seem to take offense. Her eyes lit up. "Oh yes!" she said delightedly. "My cats are my babies. I have five, you know…"

Somehow Grace managed to keep a straight face as she rung the woman up and bagged everything. Cat Lady kept up with her endless litany of cat names, breeds, and favorite activities throughout the entire process.

When she finally left, the girl couldn't help it. She broke down, laughing so hard that she could barely breath. Derek watched this with amusement.

"You okay?" he asked, when she finally recovered.

Grace swallowed the last few giggles. Her eyes were watering. This was ridiculous. It hadn't even been that funny.

He stood there, still grinning with satisfaction, for a long moment. Then he sighed. "Alright, my break's over." Today, he was working in the bakery. This, in Grace's opinion, was the best job in the store. Even professional bakers, after all, messed up sometimes. All of the cupcakes with lopsided icing and cracked cookies, and slightly smushed brownies were up for grabs by whoever was working that day.

"But," he continued. "I wanted to ask you something."

Grace had been prepared to zone off into some sort of interesting day dream while she waited for more customers, but she refocused her attention on Derek.

He looked down at the floor and messed with his hair before he continued. "What time do you get off today?"

"The same time as you," she said automatically. "We have the same schedule this weekend, remember?" It took another minute of silence before she realized that this question had other implications. She could almost feel her cheeks turning red, as they always did when she missed the obvious.

Derek looked back up at her, eyes bright. "So what do you think about dinner? We could go get pizza at that place… but whatever you want, really."

Her stomach leapt, that was the only way she could describe it. The smile spread across her face before she even realized it. "Like a date?"

_Please say yes, please say yes_.

He nodded. "If you want."

There was no holding back the grin now. "I'd love to."

* * *

"She told you _what_?"

Derek's face was solemn. Somehow, he wasn't kidding. "I swear, she said she was a stripper when she was younger. Believe me, I did not want to know."

The image of Joanne, the heavyset woman who wore way too much blue eyeshadow and worked in the deli, as a former "exotic dancer" was something Grace had never particularly wanted to picture. She looked instead at the boy next to her, trying to erase the scenes her mind was coming up with. "Wow, I wish I could unlearn that."

"I needed someone to suffer with me."

Even hours after dinner was over, they hadn't run out of things to talk about. Derek, it turned out, was full of insane stories. He was the kind of person people just told things do, so he knew a lot more about the employees of their store (and some of the regular customers too) than she did. There were a good number of them that she wouldn't be able to look in the eye for the next week.

Derek pulled up in front of her house and stopped the car, shifting it into park. He turned the car off and they sat there for a moment, under the broken street light. The silence was a palpable thing, heavy with anticipation. Grace's heartbeat was so loud in her own ears that she was sure Derek could hear it too.

It was dark enough that she could barely make out his features. Everything was lost in shadows, but his eyes were on her. "I had a really good time," he said. His voice was different now than it had been a minute ago, lower and softer.

"Me too."

Very slowly he leaned forward to cup her cheek in one hand. Grace closed her eyes as he pressed his lips to hers.

It was a soft, sweet kiss. Grace didn't want him to pull back but he did, pausing only a few inches away. "Would you want to do this again some time?"

She nodded, unable to find her voice at first. When he smiled at her and sat back in the driver's seat, she followed up. "I would really like that."

"Good. See you tomorrow?"

Grace kept herself calm as she walked up the front path, even though she wanted to jump up and down or something equally crazy. She had to call Isobel. She had to call everyone! None of them had ever met Derek, but she was sure they would now. And they would love him, even if he didn't go to their school. How could they not?

She let herself in quietly, although the house wasn't yet dark. There was a light on in the kitchen—her mom usually made tea this time of night. Sure enough, when she reached the kitchen the kettle was on the stove and her mom was standing over it.

"Don't you know a watched pot never boils?" Grace teased.

When her mom turned around, Grace's smile faltered. The sudden change in mood was like getting a bucket of ice water dumped over her head, and her stomach dropped immediately.

Her mom was _furious_.

"Can you tell me what time it is?" her mom said, her voice even.

Grace glanced at the microwave. The little green numbers blurred together for a second before she could read them. "Eleven twenty," she said quietly. Her curfew was eleven o'clock sharp—her mom had reminded her of that when she had called to tell her she wouldn't be home right after work. "I'm really sorry mom but I'm only a little late and I wasn't doing anything I swear I just lost track—"

Her mom interrupted her with a hand. "I don't want to hear it. You're a senior in high school, Grace! I expect you to be more responsible than this!"

Each word was icy. "But, Mom—"

"I said I don't want to hear it. I'm sure that none of your friends miss their curfews!"

This was a common part of any lecture. Grace's mom was convinced that her friends were the ultimate paragons of teenage virtue, that their grades and their behavior were so much better than her own daughter's.

Grace clenched her fists. "Mom, stop it."

But her mom was nowhere near finished. "And that boy you were out with! Does he even go to school? I don't like you hanging around with this people, Grace, I told you—"

This time, Grace was the one to interrupt. "There's nothing wrong with Derek! Just because he doesn't have parents who are willing to pay for college and he has to work to make the money himself doesn't mean he's a bad person. And there's nothing wrong with me either." Her anger was building, resentment leftover from all of the many times she was told to be like someone else. "You think my friends are so great? They drink and go to parties and miss their curfews, if they even have curfews. I'm the only one who has a job, the only one who actually needs to work to be able to go to the mall or the movies or buy a new dress for a dance!"

Grace took a breath. Behind her mom, the kettle started to whistle. For a brief second, she wanted to tell her mom that she had no right to be using her element while she was yelling like this.

And that was then the burner exploded.

That was the only word for it really. The flickering blue-white flame that had been barely visible from where Grace was standing shot straight up into a column of fire that reached the top of the hood above the stove.

Her mom screamed and Grace, feeling oddly detached from her body, heard herself shout over the whistling of the kettle. "Get out, Mom. Get away!"

Miraculously, her mom listened, dashing from the kitchen without an argument. Grace stepped forward, watching the flame. She breathed deeply, pushing away her earlier anger with her mother. The fire shrunk down until it just barely licked the sides of the kettle. Carefully, she turned the burner off and the fire disappeared. Her heart was pounding in her ears again, this time for a _very_ different reason.

The kitchen was silent now, and she could hear her mom's panicked voice on the phone. "It's gone, Mom!" she yelled. "It's fine."

Her mom moved tentatively back into the kitchen, as if the fire might erupt from nowhere anymore. She was still clutching the phone to her ear, and when she saw that the flames were gone she spoke into it. "Oh thank God, my daughter put it out. I'm sorry to have bothered you. Thank you." She hung up. "How did you—?"

Before her mom could finish that thought, Grace left the room. "Goodnight mom," she said shortly, over her shoulder.

She shut her bedroom door behind her and collapsed on her bed, suddenly exhausted. In the mirror she could see her face, pale with wide eyes. It didn't look like the face of someone who had almost just burned her mother by accident, but then maybe you never really knew who people were.

Now she had nothing to distract her from the icy feeling in her stomach. She had done that, just because her mom was mad she missed curfew. She had made the fire explode like that. What if her mom had been standing closer? What if something else had caught?

She could have hurt her. She could have burned down their house.

Grace didn't want to look at herself anymore. She changed for bed in the dark and got under her covers, pulling them tight to her chin. It didn't help. When she closed her eyes, she could still see it, the fire stretching like a living thing towards the people she loved.

* * *

Next chapter coming up soon! Thanks again for reading, even when I take so long. I love hearing from you, so if you have any thoughts, let me know!


	10. Chapter Nine: Marlie

Marlie contemplated her bare face in the mirror. Like most teenagers, she had her share of blemishes and her nose was perhaps a bit sharp, but overall it was not a bad face. Still, she could make her improvements.

There was something satisfying in the art of applying makeup. Not everyone thought so, she knew, but to her it was an art. To make the red spots and imperfections vanish under a thin layer of carefully blended concealer picked to exactly match her skin, to lengthen and darken her lashes to better frame her hazel eyes, to apply just enough color here and there… Marlie didn't particularly enjoy the art classes she had taken over the years, but this was different. This had _purpose_.

And so, as she always did on special occasions, Marlie had taken her time to shower and moisturize and dry her hair perfectly straight. Now, with almost an hour to spare, she could do her make-up with all the time and precision she desired.

Still, she had done this enough times that it no longer required all of her concentration. She let her mind wander instead. Grace had called last night, full of excitement abut her date. Apparently a guy she worked with had taken her out and it had gone perfectly. Marlie grinned at her reflection. It had been a while since Grace had shown interest in anyone. She couldn't wait to meet this kid.

As for the rest of her friends, she was already working on Cara. Tom's friend Danny had danced with her for most of the Winter Formal and they were talking now. It was hard to find a guy tall enough for a girl who was nearing six feet, but Danny made the cut by at least an inch. Well, Cara never really liked heels anyway.

She didn't both with Isobel anymore. Marlie had tried, before Aaron, to find her someone. But no matter who she came up with, Isobel had an opinion on him and could not be swayed. As far as Marlie was concerned, she was on her own.

Marlie finished her mascara and examined it carefully in the mirror, making sure it was even. Anna was the one who needed a boy now. As Marlie's best friend of over ten years now, she should be the easiest but somehow it didn't work like that. Anna wasn't the type to have half a dozen crushes at a given time. The few that she did have, she was unlikely to actually express her feelings towards. She hadn't mentioned anyone to Marlie since the beginning of the year, so it was obviously time to find her someone.

But it was senior year now and they had pretty much exhausted the possibilities in their own grade. Younger guys were out of the question. Marlie wasn't worried about Anna in the long run. College would be full of guys with much more potential than the ones they had been going to school with forever. For the rest of the year, though—and most importantly, for senior prom—she was going to need someone.

The solution was very simple, when it occurred to her. Anna, like most senior girls, was sick of the guys in their grade. None of them knew a lot of people outside of school. There was, however, someone else—someone in their grade, but new. Someone who hadn't dated several of their acquaintances, who didn't have an established group that he wouldn't branch out from, and who was undeniably attractive.

Marlie finished the make-up on her eyes with a bronze shadow that brought out the dark gold highlights in her brown hair. Anna, she concluded, should date Jonathan.

There were potential holes in this plan, she realized. He was not exactly up on modern society, being a newcomer from some alien planet. And he hadn't expressed any particular interest in Anna. But it wasn't like he could date anyone else. Certainly not anyone outside of their group, who might not understand the whole off world traveler thing. Marlie was the only one with a boyfriend, but Grace and Cara had their prospects. Isobel, supremely stubborn holder of grudges, wasn't going to let the memory wipe incident go any time soon. That left Anna. And they did seem to get along well enough. In addition to being pretty and fun Anna was the calm, easy-going one of the group. In Marlie's eyes, it would be entirely unreasonable for him _not_ to like her.

Satisfied with both her makeup and her plan, Marlie sat back. The fluffy lavender robe was not exactly Christmas Eve Mass attire, but she had time.

"Marlie!" Her mom's voice carried easily up the stairs. "Can you help your sister get dressed?"

With a sigh, she got to her feet and shuffled her way into her sister's room. At eight, it seemed perfectly reasonable for Caroline to dress herself, but apparently no one cared for Marlie's opinion on the matter.

Caroline had the typical pink princess-y bedroom of a little girl, her bed piled high with pillows and draped under a filmy canopy. This was why it was initially difficult for her to find the girl. But there she was, her head a dark spot against a backdrop of rose and cream.

The girl, in a pink robe that only helped her to further disappear into her bed, was sitting cross-legged, facing her headboard and chattering animatedly into thin air.

"This is my room," she was saying. "Do you like it? It's my favorite color. And Mommy let me get a canopy like a princess. Do you like princesses?"

Who was she talking to? There was no one there, unless she had stolen one of their phones again to talk to her friends.

It was as Marlie moved closer that she realized this was not the case. The object she was facing was not a phone, but a toy. A doll, it looked like, from some sort of fantasy collection, with long lavender hair and sparkly butterfly wings.

Marlie rolled her eyes. "Caroline, you can play later. We need to go to church."

Caroline turned over her shoulder, pleading with wide dark eyes. "But we can't just _leave_ her here!"

And odd, prickling feeling was climbing up her spine, but Marlie ignored it. "Car, do you really need to bring your doll to church? You're old enough to leave her home now." Marlie was sometimes a little jealous that the little kids got to bring entertainment but admitting that would not exactly help motivate her sister.

Caroline shook her head hard, sending her dark hair flying. At least that was reasonably styled. Getting a dress on her was much easier than trying to do her hair. "She's not a doll," the girl said hotly. "She's my _friend_."

"Right. Well your friend can't come to church, okay? Now get up and put your dress on." The dress in question was hanging on the door of the closet, red and poofy skirted. What else did little girls wear on Christmas? Marlie grabbed it and advanced on her sister, throwing aside the layers of pink tulle. As she leaned forward, she got a closer look at the doll.

It was moving. "Car," she said slowly, keeping her eye on it. "Where did you get that?"

The little figure sitting on one of her sister's pillows was clearly not a doll. The tiny pointed face that had been tilted up at Caroline was facing her now, staring at her with unblinking purple eyes. The thing shifted, released a shower of glitter from its wings.

Her sister shrugged. "She was in the backyard. I haven't been able to get her to talk yet, but I know she will." The little girl smiled widely. "We're going to be best friends!"

"Listen to me, Car. That's not a toy and not something you can be friends with." Her sister's face fell. The creature showed no change in expression, but cocked her head just slightly as if she, too, was listening.

Marlie ignored the wrench in her gut. She couldn't leave the thing here with her sister. What if it was dangerous? And even if it wasn't, she knew one thing for certain. That did not belong on Earth.

"She's lost," Marlie said gently. "She needs to go home now, so she can see her family."

Those dark eyes started to fill with tears, but Caroline nodded. She turned and buried her face in her pillows as Marlie carefully scooped up the creature.

The thing sat quietly in her hands as she made her way downstairs. Well, it didn't seem to be dangerous. That didn't change the fact that it was not supposed to be here. She could remember what the voice had said, that day when they received their powers. And more clearly, she could remember the image of the other planets speeding towards Earth, ready to destroy the world.

The problem was, where was she supposed to put it? Marlie slipped out the back door, glad that everyone was still getting ready. Once there, though, she had no idea where to start.

It must have come through somewhere. Maybe it left a hole where it moved between worlds. All she had to do was find it and then she could send it back to its own world.

She moved around the edges of the yard, dodging any large snowbanks. The slippers she had chosen certainly completed an outfit consisting of a robe and sweatpants, but they didn't do much to protect her feet from snow. As she moved to the very back corner, behind the old swing set, Marlie began to hear a low hum.

After her next step, Marlie knew she was in the right place. She could see it, a jagged gash in thin air, as if torn into the canvas of the world. Light poured through it, bright in the dusky early evening. The feeling hit her almost as soon as she saw it. Marlie doubled over, nausea threatening to empty the contents of her stomach. She couldn't quite explain it, but the gash was _wrong_. Still, she struggled to stand up straight. This was it, she knew. The creature had to go through.

"You have to go home," she said to the thing, which was staring at her again. Did it feel the wrongness too, or did it not care? "Please, go through that!"

For a minute it just sat there. Marlie began to debate whether or not it would be a good idea to throw it through, when it suddenly took off. It gave a musical whistle before disappearing through the crack.

The crack flared brighter, sending another wave of nausea through her. Marlie fell to her knees, eyes on the tiny shoots just barely emerging from the dirt. They would become the weeds that her mother spent long afternoons cutting away from the trees. Now, though, they were exactly what she needed.

Marlie placed her palms flat on the dirt, just above the shoots. "Seal it." The magic warmed her—not quite the fire that it was when she transformed, but a steady flow of heat through her veins. It pushed back the nausea slightly and she doubled her efforts. Green sparks began to dance around her hands and she sat back to watch her work.

The thin vines erupted from the soil, reaching toward the jagged tear. They darted across the empty space like a needle and thread across a ripped seam. With every tug the tear shrunk and dulled until finally it disappeared completely.

The sickness faded immediately. Marlie stood, brushing dirt off her hands. "Thank you," she whispered to the waving vines. They shrunk back into the soil as she turned back towards the house.

More than ever, she couldn't just hope that video had been an odd dream. Their mission was frighteningly, impossibly real.

* * *

"Marlie, honey, can you check on the kids?"

Marlie, who was nursing the typical post-holiday-meal food coma, sighed and pushed her chair away from the table. She was starting to see why kids were the ones who had the most fun on Christmas. Of course she still loved it, but her enthusiasm had been greatly dampened by getting dragged out of bed at sunrise by Caroline, wrapping last-minute presents, cooking (and cleaning in between each stage of preparation), and now being the lucky oldest cousin in charge of making sure the little ones didn't destroy her grandparents' house. Technically, she wasn't the oldest. But apparently having graduated college officially moved a person up to adult status, leaving the oldest of the "kids" to do the babysitting.

Still, she couldn't entirely shake the comfortable warmth of food and family, and it was with a not entirely uncharitable feeling towards the little lunatics that she followed the shouts down to the basement.

It was chaos, of course. The girls were running in circles, disrupting the intense video game war going on in front of the TV. Before Fred and Gerard had a chance to turn on their sisters, Marlie gathered them up and moved to the lighter part of the basement, near the stairs.

"Let's do something without running, okay?"

Caroline sat cross-legged against the wall. "I want to tell them about my friend from yesterday," she announced.

Marlie's eyes widened and she shook her head, but it was too late. The other girls nodded eagerly and Caroline started to share.

"She was a fairy," Caroline said solemnly. "With wings and everything. I found her in the backyard and brought her to my room. But Marlie made me give her away."

Four pairs of accusing eyes turned on her. She sighed. _Great_. "It wasn't a real fairy," she said with false levity. Caroline opened her mouth to protest but was silenced by her older sister's intent look. "It was part of a story, right Caroline?"

Luckily, her sister decided to go along with this. She had no idea how she managed that but she owed her sister a cookie or something.

Sarah, the youngest of the girls, crept up against Marlie's side. "Can you tell us the story?" she asked.

Of course, Marlie didn't have a story. But those giant blue eyes looking up at her were pretty much impossible to refuse. "Of course," she said. "Just sit down."

The girls obliged, forming a neat little circle. Marlie blinked at them, wondering what on earth she could say.

"Once upon a time," she started, "there were five girls with magical powers…"

It turned out that her life story (as of the past week) made an excellent fairy tale, if she swapped out the vacuum for an evil queen and her boyfriend for a prince. When she finished, the girls were wide-eyed with awe.

"I wish I could be like them," Sarah said wistfully.

Marlie couldn't help but grin. "Well," she conceded. "Their outfits _are_ pretty cool."

* * *

Well the characters have been getting some alone time, but next chapter the girls are all back together! As always, thank you so much for reading.


	11. Chapter Ten: Anna

The day after Christmas was always a little bit sad, Anna reflected, but it did have its perks. It was the kind of day where no one expected anyone to do much of anything and most people spent their hours relaxing and recovering from the grand spectacle of the holidays.

So Anna very happily wandered downstairs a little bit before noon, having been left to sleep as long as she wanted. Outside the sun was shining down on the glittering snow and the trees rustled in what was probably a very icy wind. Her mom had left early to get a head start on returns and exchanges at the mall and her dad was upstairs on the computer, which left only her sister to greet her as she went into the kitchen for breakfast.

Theoretically, at least. Emily didn't actually say anything to her, as she was totally absorbed in the show she was watching on TV. Like Anna she was still in her red plaid Christmas pajamas, her dark blonde hair in two braids on either side of her head.

Anna made herself some toast and then joined the younger girl on the couch. It was only then that Emily seemed to notice her.

"Watch with me?" she asked.

As little interest as she had in cartoons, Anna didn't actually have anything better to do while eating her toast. She nodded and looked up at the TV. On screen, a striped orange cat was running away from a much larger black one. They darted through the streets of a city, which seemed to be equally populated with cats, dodging street vendors and pedestrians. The orange cat yelled something and a ball of white light shot from its tail towards the black cat, who dodged it and glared with malevolent red eyes. Instead it hit what looked like a hotdog stand, which exploded in a shower of sparks.

Anna raised an eyebrow. "Magic cats?"

Emily just shrugged.

Now there was another striped cat, this one light grey, and a white one. She assumed they were all "good", primarily because they were small and cute looking compared to the thing chasing them. "So why does that black cat want to catch them?"

"He's an evil magician," Emily supplied, as if this was very obvious. "He wants their magic."

She seemed to remember her children's TV shows being a little less complicated, and less confrontational. But then, that was a while ago. "For what?"

Emily shrugged again, but expanded this time. "He has some, but he wants more."

Anna nodded and went back to watching. She found herself rooting for the little animated animals. It was oddly compelling. They darted down an alleyway and she almost wanted to cheer when the black cat got tripped up by a couple of even tinnier kittens.

"Last time he sent these other guys to get them," Emily said, happy that her older sister was taking interest in this. "They couldn't, so now he has to come himself. But he didn't mind that much, because the other guys found them."

Anna looked down at her. "Found them?"

Her sister's eyes didn't leave the screen, but she didn't seem to mind explaining. "They followed their magic. They couldn't catch them, so they just went back to him and told him where they were."

Something about this storyline sounded oddly familiar. It wasn't that unlikely, considering that most fiction was pretty derivative, but this was something else. She considered this, watching as the white cat made a puddle for the black cat to slip in.

The realization flashed through her mind almost instantly. The men at school that day disappeared without leaving any damage behind. Jonathan said they were called back because they had finished their job. None of them had been able to figure out what that job might be, but they hadn't seen the men again so it wasn't a top priority.

What if that job had been finding them?

They had found them. Yes, it had been at school but how long was it before they were traced back to their homes? They had been focusing on how to find this mysterious force that was pulling magic from the surrounding worlds, but maybe he wasn't only trying to hide his work from them.

Maybe he wanted their magic too.

Feeling a small hand on her arm, Anna looked down. "It's only pretend," Emily assured her. "They'll get away."

If only that was what she was really worried about. But her life, as strange as it was at the moment, was not a TV show. She forced herself to smile. "Thanks, Em." Leaving her half-eaten toast on its plate on the coffee table, Anna ran upstairs. She had to call a meeting.

* * *

Despite the general laziness of December 26th, everyone promised to be there within the hour. Isobel claimed she could somehow get the message to Jonathan, although she had hung up before she could explain how that was possible. Anna had been under the impression that he was going home for Christmas, and his home wasn't exactly down the street. But then, she didn't know exactly how one traveled between worlds, so maybe it was that easy.

She used the short time before her friends arrived to get out of her pajamas and clean herself up a little. In honor of Christmas, she had straightened her long, dark hair but sleeping on it had crumpled parts of it into wild looking waves. She coiled it at the back of her head instead and took a few minutes to wash her face before racing back downstairs.

Sure enough, Jonathan did make it. "How did you know to come?" she asked him, when he first walked in.

Isobel, who had arrived a few minute earlier, answered for him. "I gave him one of those walkie-talkies we used to bring when we went skiing."

When this had happened Anna had no idea but the fact that she had been able to contact him from another planet was far more mind blowing. "And that _worked_?"

"Apparently," Jonathan said. He held up the little green and black plastic thing. She hadn't seen one of those in years. "My family was… confused when it started speaking."

Well, that could be useful. It wasn't like they could call the kid. And how would they set him up on a cell phone plan even if they wanted to?

Anna ushered everyone up to her room, in case her sister emerged from the basement or her parents decided to hang out in the living room. This wasn't exactly a conversation that they could overhear. Technically, teenage boys were banned from her bedroom. In this case, though, that didn't seem like a big worry.

The girls sat but Jonathan remained standing, leaning against the wall and looking at her expectantly. Actually, everyone was. Anna felt like she was giving a presentation or something. She took a breath and began. "Okay, so I was thinking today about those guys who showed up at school."

There was a collective shudder throughout the room. That hadn't exactly been the best day. And she was only going to make it worse with this theory. "I was watching this show with my sister and there were cats and…" Okay, she was doing this all wrong. "The point is, we still don't know why they came after us, right?"

"They sense magic," Jonathan supplied. "Feed on it, really. They came after you because they weren't fed."

Marlie, who was laying across Anna's bed, propped herself up on her elbows. "So it didn't have anything to do with us?"

Jonathan shook his head. Ordinarily that would have been reassuring—they were pretty new to this whole magic thing and he was their resident expert. But Anna was fairly certain that those men hadn't just been after anything with powers.

"What if it did have something to do with us?" She looked at Jonathan. "You said they can find magic, right?"

He nodded.

The pieces were putting themselves together in her head. "So what if someone was using them to find specific magic? To find us?"

Some of the confidence faded from his expression. "Someone kept them hungry on purpose," he said quietly, the realization falling heavily into the otherwise silent room.

Behind Marlie, Cara sat up straighter. She looked less upset than curious. "So who wants to find us?"

"The one behind all of this," Jonathan told her.

As if this was the answer she expected, she nodded. "Right, you said the signature on the map was similar."

Grace finished twisting her hair into an interesting reverse braid and let her hands fall back into her lap. "But why? Isn't he trying to hide what he's doing so we can't stop him?"

And that was where Anna's real theory came in. "He's absorbing magic," she said. "And we have a good amount of that. I think he wants our powers." She glanced over at Isobel, who was curled sideways in the armchair near the window. "And the Heart." Feeling suddenly exhausted, she nudged Marlie over to make a space for herself against the pillows.

"That might be a good thing," Cara said. She stood up now to take the spot where Anna had been standing. Somehow the snowflake-decorated thermal shirt she was wearing did nothing to detract from the weight of her words. "We want to find him, right?" She didn't wait for an answer. "And apparently he wants to find us. So maybe he isn't hiding as carefully as we thought."

Marlie sighed deeply and let her chin fall back to the bed. "But we haven't found him yet," she pointed out. "And he sent his minions or whatever after us, so it's not like we've actually even seen this guy."

"We don't even know if he is a guy," Grace added. "How are we supposed to find him if he never shows himself?"

Anna hadn't actually considered that there might be a beneficial side to being searched for by a person who was amassing so much power that he risked destroying the planet. And of course, there were caveats. Because if he could use someone else to find them, he didn't even need to give up his location. Sure, they had at least held their own against the guys at school but that didn't mean they couldn't get taken down by something else he had up his sleeve.

"I could go," Isobel said suddenly. The whole room turned to look at her. She had let her legs fall back to the floor so she was sitting up straight and her eyes, staring straight ahead, had an odd unfocused look. "I could let myself get taken."

Anna's mind went blank. She knew that she had to protest this but any coherent rebuttals had been wiped from her head. Was she crazy? Why would she want to put herself in the hands of that…?

On the other side of the chair, Jonathan pushed himself off the wall. "No!"

Well, she reflected, that worked too.

Isobel blinked as if rising out of a trance and glared at him. "Thanks for your input." She turned back to her friends, who were all wearing expressions of varied surprise and dismay. Anna assumed her own face wasn't much different. "Just listen," she said. When no one made to protest, she continued. "If they take me, I'll see where he is. That's the only way we'll be able to find him."

"You'll put the Heart right in his hands!" Cara said.

That wasn't something that Anna had even thought about, and Grace echoed her more immediate concern. "You'll put _yourself_ right in his hands! Is, we don't know anything about this guy."

Isobel was calm now against the onslaught of protests, shoulders back and chin up. Her eyes glinted with that steely determination that surfaced when she had to defend an opinion. "Of course I won't take the Heart," she told Cara. "How would you find me, then? I'll leave it with you and it can bring you to wherever I am. That's how we'll find him." She nodded firmly, as if this was said and done already.

This quieted Cara for the moment, but Marlie spoke up. "How do you know he won't hurt you?" she asked, her voice lacking its usual exuberance.

Isobel stood up. "I don't have any powers. I'm completely useless to all of you. So just let him take me, okay? Let me try and do _something_. What do you even need me for?" Her eyes were bright and slightly watery, like she was fighting back tears.

"Oh yeah, because you can't make a tornado or start a fire we can't be friends anymore." Grace's biting tone hid an undercurrent of worry. "Is, are you insane? How can you even think that?"

The other girl took a breath and looked down for a second, her fists clenching at her sides. When she spoke again, she sounded much calmer. "The best way to find him is to give him what he wants—us. Not all of us, because then we would all be trapped." Isobel looked up, her face set with determination. "But one of us should be enough bait. I'm the best choice. I'm sure he wants the Heart most of all, and he'll assume that I have it. And I wouldn't be very much help on the other side because I can't fight." A small amount of bitterness crept into her tone. "Last time all I managed to do was get slammed against a wall and almost strangled."

"Isobel," Jonathan said evenly, although the look on his face indicated that he wasn't feeling very calm. "This is a terrible plan. You'll only succeed in injuring yourself. There has to be another way."

She put her hands on her hips. "There isn't, and you know it. What, are you telling me that no one in your little organization does anything dangerous?" When he didn't answer, she raised an eyebrow. "Or maybe no _girls_ do?"

Jonathan turned away from her, looking out the window at the empty street below. Anna thought briefly of the other houses there, where kids were playing with their new toys and families were trying to figure out what to do with all the leftovers. This part of her life still felt very surreal.

"Yes, we all do dangerous things. Women and men. But…"

"But?"

He looked back at Isobel, now unable to keep his tone calm. "They have training, they know what they're doing! They don't just throw themselves into risky situations and hope for the best!" His voice softened. "Isobel, please. You're going to get yourself killed."

Isobel's eyes widened at this sudden change in mood, but she remained firm. "It's the only way." She scanned the faces of the other Guardians, as if looking for some indication of approval.

"I think she's right," Cara said quietly, her eyes on Isobel. The other girl nodded gratefully.

Reluctantly, the other girls agreed.

"But you better not let him kill you," Grace said.

Isobel gave her friends a shaky smile. "Alright then. Let's make a plan."

* * *

As always, thank you for reading!


	12. Chapter Eleven: Isobel

"You're not sleeping over Cara's house, are you?"

Matt was standing in the doorway, one hand on top of the frame. That particular position had become a habit of his ever since he got tall enough to reach it with a generous bend in his elbow. Isobel thought he was just showing off. It hadn't been that long ago that she had towered over her little brother and it was still strange to her to reach up to ruffle his hair (in a way that always annoyed him) instead of down.

Knowing that her face would give her away instantly, Isobel turned her back to him, busying herself with the bag on her bed. It wasn't just part of the cover story. The clothes inside were her most comfortable sweatpants and a soft t-shirt, all set to put on when she got back from—

Well she didn't want to think about that. "What else would I be doing?"

It took him a minute to answer, mostly because there was an extremely obvious answer as to why she would be lying to her parents about where she would be that night. "So you're not going to a party?"

Hah. That only showed what he knew. But he was going to suspect something, and that was better than the truth. Sighing, she pushed her bag aside and climbed onto her bed, hugging one of the soft pillows to her chest. "Alright, you caught me."

He grinned like this was the coolest thing he had ever heard. "Have you ever even snuck out before?" His eyes, staring brightly down at her, were the exact same shade as hers.

Suddenly she could feel the moisture gathering in the corner of her eyes. Oh God, she was really going to do this. Ignoring his question, she stared down at her hands, which were clenched so tightly into fists that she was leaving red crescents on her palms.

"Hey, I'm not going to tell on you," he said quickly. She must have looked really upset if he was actually trying to comfort her, instead of making fun of her. She had to pull herself together. "Are you okay?"

Isobel blinked to chase away any possible tears and looked back up, smiling as brightly as she could. It was half-hearted but hopefully it convinced him. "Yeah, of course." She pushed herself off the bed, zipping her bag closed and slinging it over her shoulder. "Actually I'm leaving now."

She quickly zipped up her boots and then, before Matt could move away, wrapped him in a tight hug.

He pushed at her shoulders. "Get off of me," he whined. She pulled back. "Seriously, what is wrong with you?"

"Nothing," she said quickly. "Just… don't say anything. And I'll see you tomorrow." Her voice broke on the last part and she hurtled down the stairs and out the door before she could see his reaction.

Her parents weren't home, which was probably a good thing. She didn't know how to say this kind of goodbye.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, they were the only two cars in the school parking lot. Isobel hadn't driven today, since she wouldn't be around to drive back. Cara had picked her up and they had been the first to arrive, sitting in an uncomfortable, worried silence until the others came.

They had chosen the school fairly easily as a meeting place for this particular encounter. It was where they had been discovered once before, so the creatures were likely to look for them here. And they had to look for them, if they wanted this to work.

"Ready?" Isobel asked Grace.

Grace just gave her a look—something like 'are _you _really asking _me_ that?'—before nodding reluctantly. Jonathan stepped back, leaning against the hood of Anna's car with the same surly expression that he had worn most of yesterday, and Isobel closed her eyes.

It took her longer to call up the Heart than usual. She could hear her own heart beating in the silence and it kept distracting her as she reached for the power. She fumbled for it, her stomach dropping for one terrible instant at the thought that she might not be able to do it, before she finally managed to grab hold. When she opened her eyes it hovered just above her outstretched palm, glowing with fuchsia light.

She hung onto the transformation as long as she could, focusing on nothing but the fire running through her veins. Even though she knew it wasn't possible, she could imagine it burning away her fear.

When they settled down to the ground, she gripped the Heart tightly one last time. It seemed to pulse through her, like a reassurance, and that made it a little bit easier to hand it over to Anna.

"Make sure they don't see you have it," she said, keeping her voice steady with tremendous effort. "It'll bring you to me when you guys are ready, but don't come too soon. Give me a little time so I can see if I can figure out what he's doing."

This was her least favorite part of the plan. It was an amorphous vision of dark and cold and whatever unimaginable horrors were holed up with the mastermind behind all of this. Whatever this person wanted to do to her, she was positive it wouldn't be pleasant.

She turned to Jonathan. "How can we make them find us?"

He clearly did not want to have any part of this. The anger helped to fortify her. So he thought she was stupid for coming up with this plan? Fine. She was going to do this, and it was going to work. "Use your magic," he said reluctantly. "They'll sense it."

Cara stretched out her hands over the damp pavement where the snow was melting into a brownish slush. It rose towards her palms, quivering slightly. The girl frowned at this unusual response. "I think the dirt is interfering," she said, letting it drop again.

Marlie put down the coffee she had been sipping and crouched down to find the tiny weeds growing in the cracks in the asphalt. She coaxed them up with a hand until they danced around her knees. When she looked up, the slight smile on her face vanished. "Behind you!" she yelled to Cara.

The other girl spun around, directing her lump of snow straight into the stomach of a man in black. It wasn't heavy enough to knock him over but he stumbled back.

Marlie's vines grew higher, lashing out towards another one of the creatures. Grace faced down a third, her hands full of fire. Anna gave Isobel one last concerned look before taking a place next to Cara and bowling a fourth man over with a gust of wind.

The four girls formed an arc to face their enemies, holding them off. Isobel took a deep, shaky breath and launched herself into the air to come down on the other side of the creatures.

She clenched her fists against the urge to run as one of them turned towards her. Were they they same ones as last time? She couldn't tell. They all looked the same, like they had been manufactured on the same line, an endless army of them to find the girls and any other wayward magic in this world.

Isobel flew at him at top speed. She knocked him backwards but not to the ground and he grabbed her arm before she could fly away. Her heart hammered in her chest and her stomach felt as if it had turned to lead. Even thought it was what she had intended, she didn't want to let him hold her.

Struggling against his grip, she caught Grace's eye. The fear on the other girl's face was real. Isobel thought she should give her a reassuring smile but she couldn't have managed it even if she wasn't worried that it would give away their intentions.

The battle was still going on. What if her friends couldn't hold them all off? Jonathan had joined in the fight as well, elbowing one of the men hard in the nose as he reached towards Anna. But there were so many of them…

They stopped suddenly, turning towards Isobel and her captor. Isobel froze, forgetting her half-feigned struggle. For a second she was afraid that the creatures had seen through their plan.

The last thing she saw before the world vanished was the bright flash of the Heart, hidden in Anna's bag on the back of her car.

* * *

Isobel faded slowly into consciousness. She blinked, once, twice, three times, before the blurriness faded from her vision enough for her to see where she was.

The room around her was small and dimly lit. Heavy curtains covered the window, obscuring the time of day. Her attempt to sit up to get a better look was halted by a sharp pain in her forearms.

She was in what appeared to be a dentist's chair, although most of those didn't have metal restraints for her arms and legs with edges sharp enough to bite into her skin if she moved too much.

The girl let her head and shoulders fall back to the chair. She had always hated the dentist. This struck her as an odd thought to be having at the moment, and she wondered how she could feel so calm. Maybe being prepared to be a prisoner had desensitized her to the fear of waking up in a strange place, unable to move. Then again, she couldn't dispute that she was afraid. It was a dull sensation, hiding deep in her stomach, but it was there.

That sensation spiked suddenly as the door opened. Two men came through first. They were dressed differently and their faces were shadowed but Isobel thought they might be the same creatures as the men who had taken her.

The third man was different. He was clearly human, or something similar to human, and something about him made her wish for the expressionless features of the robot-men. The neat, dark suit he wore made him look like any of the businessmen that she saw getting on and off the train near her house, but his face was cruel.

The smile he gave her made her shiver. "Welcome," he said. "So nice of you to join us here."

When she spoke, her voice sounded rusty. Isobel wondered how long she had been unconscious. "Where am I?"

This made him smile wider. It was far from a kind smile. "Well I can't tell you that, can I? I confess I am not fully aware of your powers but there might be some way that you can contact your friends and tell them everything. I would like to meet them, of course." He stepped closer, running one hand along the edge of the chair until it reached the top. Then he leaned in. "But not quite yet."

It was futile, she knew, but Isobel struggled against the bonds, ignoring the pain. The man watched her with amusement, saying nothing until she gave up.

"I'm sure you know something of what I have been doing in this world," he said, standing up straight again. He turned around, busying himself with something out of sight. "Magic, after all, is a valuable commodity. And yours, well, yours is very special."

The thought had crossed her mind that he would take the opportunity of having in her captivity to drain as much of her power as she could. Isobel gave an inward sigh of relief that the Heart was out of his hands. Hopefully, no matter what he took, the crystal could give it back. And even if it didn't, her friends would keep their magic.

He faced her again to fasten a second shackle around her right arm. This one was on the wrist. After he tested that it was secure, he undid the wider band. "Don't think that this will make it easier to escape," he said. "It's plenty strong, I promise."

Isobel had no intention of escaping, of course, but he didn't know that. She schooled her face into a scowl. "What do you want with me?" she demanded. The tension in her voice wasn't feigned.

Ignoring her, he dabbed at the crook of her elbow with a wet cloth. "You know, I didn't begin here until I had spent some time on Earth. I have learned so much from your world. It is truly remarkable."

It took her longer than she would have expected to realize what he was doing. Not until he tied a strip of fabric tight around the top of her arm did she recognize this series of actions.

Oh God, he was going to drain her blood. She had pictured magical means and rituals of all kinds, some more insane and elaborate than others, but this was completely unexpected. Isobel wasn't sure whether to laugh or scream, although she certainly didn't feel much like the former.

She turned away as he plunged the needle into her arm, flinching when the tip punctured the skin. Having blood taken didn't bother her as much as it had when she was younger and had to be held down, screaming, as the nurse searched for the vein. Still, it made her nauseous to think about the blood leaving her body. It didn't help that instead of this blood going to a doctor to make sure she was healthy, it was being collected by a psychopath after her magic.

Isobel breathed slowly, her head turned intentionally to the side, willing herself not to pass out. She could do this.

She couldn't see his face, but his voice suggested that he found her queasiness entertaining. "Blood seems to bother so many people in this world," he said. "I'm not sure why. It holds so much of a person."

The cool fingers on her chin made her flinch. He turned her head back towards the needle in her arm. Her stomach dropped at the sight of the tiny tube filled with her dark red blood.

"Look," he said, holding up the small bottle that he was using to collect it. It was half full. Something about it looked odd. He held it closer to her face until she could see the sparks of pink jumping across the surface of the liquid.

Isobel's eyes widened, some of her discomfort forgotten. The magic was really and truly in her blood. Maybe that meant that it couldn't be taken from her completely. Unless, she realized with horror, he took all her blood.

He seemed to be reading her thoughts, or at least her expressions, because he reassured her. "To get all of your magic right now I would have to drain you completely," he said conversationally. The words sent a chill across her entire body. "But if I don't do that, the magic will replenish itself along with your blood." He pulled the needle out and she winced. "You are an unending source."

The man wiped the blood away from her arm and wrapped her elbow in a bandage. It was unsettling how close his actions were to those of an actual nurse taking blood. Isobel tried to lean away but the restraints held her fast.

When he finished this he sat back, placing the blood-filled bottle on a table next to him. "Of course, that's not all that I need from you." He looked at her expectantly. "Where is it?"

Isobel tried not to look at the bottle. It wasn't nauseating like watching her blood move through the tube, but it still wasn't pleasant to think about. "Where is what?" she asked, honestly confused.

Something like annoyance flickered across his face but it vanished just as quickly. He leaned closer to speak in a conspiratorial whisper. "The Heart of Candracar."

"I don't have it."

His face was beginning to look more unpleasant. "Don't lie to me. You will not like the results."

Isobel clenched her jaw, trying to keep her face steady. "I don't have it," she repeated, glad that she was telling the truth. But what if he didn't believe her?

He beckoned to one of the creatures at the door and whispered something to him when he came closer. The creature gave her a long blank look and then shook his head slowly, just once back and forth. The next minutes passed in silence as Isobel hoped that it had just confirmed the Heart's absence.

When he turned back to her, there was fury shining in his eyes. "You cannot fool me, Guardian," he said. "I know that you left the Heart with the others so that they will be able to find you."

His words seemed to turn her blood to ice. Her eyes widened in horror and he laughed.

He knew. He knew they were coming, and she could do absolutely nothing to warn them.

"And they will find you," he said, his smile crueler than it had been before. "They will find you."

* * *

Another chapter for you, and this one with more action! Hope you enjoy it :)


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